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LIFE 



OF 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON 



THE FATHER OF MODERN DEMOCRACY 



BY 



VEEY REV. JAMES O'BOYLE, B.A., P.P., V.F. 

AUTHOR OF '*FROM WASHINGTON TO ROOSEVELT" 



LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 
FOURTH AVENUE k 30th STREET, NEW YORK 
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS 

1915 






WASHINGieNlANA 



/C 



INTRODUCTION. 

In presenting to the public this present work, I am carrying 
out a promise made in the preface to the volume, " From 
Washington to Eoosevelt," my first effort in American 
history. In issuing it at this juncture, when half the 
so-called civilzed world is in the throes of the most gigantic 
war in history, I am inspired by the hope that it may pave 
the way in some measure to a true estimate of what should 
be the most hopeful line of democratic progress in the 
future. To me it seems obvious that the aim of nations 
after peace has been achieved should be to federate on a plan 
analogous to that adopted in America after the Eevolution. 
It might at first sight seem but a day-dream to suggest 
and co-ordination amongst the powers of the world, con- 
sidering the obstacles to be surmounted in any scheme of 
such magnitude, but the danger of a periodic recurrence of 
war under present conditions is such that diplomacy is bound 
henceforth to stop at nothing that is honourable and just 
to ensure a permanent peace amongst Christian nations. 
The democratic element — the majority of freemen in the 
nations — must take this matter up in real earnest and find 
a via media by which the diplomats, the cabinets, and the 
millionaires who rule the world's commerce may not be able 
as they now are imperceptibly and as from a physical neces- 
sity to throw the unthinking masses of humanity into hostile 
camps and launch them into the throes of gigantic wars. 

The system recognized hitherto by the powers of Europe, 
viz., a balance of power or a concert of the strongest powers, 
has failed to keep war away from the nations, even when 
backed by the ablest diplomacy. The principle that alliances 
amongst the powers balancing one concert of nations against 
another has been long tested and has proved a failure, and 
even in theory is unsound. If the fleet and army of one con- 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

cert is weaker numerically and materially than the other 
allied powers, then it is up to the weaker power to seek 
new allies, to build more powerful fleets, to work up the 
martial spirit and instil principles of militarism amongst 
the people on the plea of self-preservation. Of course the 
stronger concert must not be out-classed nor allow its status 
as a dominant factor in the political world to be lowered, 
and hence the States composing it also will go on multiply- 
ing their fleets, aircraft, stores and armies. The end of 
all this rivalry we witness in the terrible war in which we 
are now engaged. The democratic voice of the nations is 
stifled in this battle, waged amongst diplomatists, foreign 
secretaries, and war ministers. Taxation must be kept up 
and year by year rise steadily higher and higher until the 
tension causes a crisis and the concerted nations find them- 
selves engulfed in a Titanic contest for supremacy. The 
anti-democratic book of Bernhardi presents to us a true pic- 
ture and a prophetic vision of German aims, ideals and 
ambitions before this war, as it foreshadows almost in detail 
how Germany should engage with and combat her enemies. 
It is a sad and true picture of what the anti-democratic 
military ascendancy party in Gerinany has brought about, 
and should be a lesson to the elective bodies in every land 
never to tolerate such a tyranny to rule in the future. Bern- 
hardi 's introduction to his lately published book, ** How 
Germany Makes War," contains in essence the whole 
philosophy of Prussian militarism. " The political situation 
as it exists to-day in the world makes war for Germany 
a necessity, necessary for her freedom of action, necessary 
for her political, economic and national development. Ger- 
many has increased in population for the last forty years 
at a rate of one million per year. This cannot go on in- 
definitely, especially as in the meantime no colonial outlet 
has become available for German expansion. We must 
therefore acquire increased political power in the world in 
proportion to our commercial, intellectual and national ad- 



INTRODUCTION. V 

vancement. The attainment of our political aims can only 
be eftected by our preparedness to enforce our influence by 
the sword. In a conflict with our adversaries we may have 
to face our enemies singlehanded, since our Austrian and 
Italian allies are not bound to aid us in an offensive policy. 
To dream of eternal peace is antiquated, and cannot be our 
policy. Arbitration courts meant to lessen the dangers of 
war, and remove, if possible, war altogether from the 
world's stage, is only a feigned safeguard of the powers to 
cover their rear and to enable them to pursue their political 
aims and monopolies of power and possession undisturbed. 
Arbitration courts must always consider as fixed and stable 
existing territorial rights. We as ar» nation contend that we 
have not yet acquired our just rights— our fair share of 
colonial territory. 

"In the face of a widespread propaganda for peace, arbitra- 
tion courts which cannot remove the deep-rooted tension in 
Germany for national, economic, and political expansion and 
a partition of the earth which no diplomatic artifice can 
change in our favour, we must, to gain the position due to 
us among the nations, rely on our own sword, renounce all 
weakly visions of peace and eye the dangers surrounding 
us with resolute and unflinching courage. Our policy, then, 
must be to gain territory by force since the enemies that 
surround us can't be laid by diplomacy. If we should suc- 
ceed in our ambitions as a steadily progressing world power, 
it behoves us to foster the martial spirit in our nation." 

I need hardly remind my readers that this line of reason- 
ing, if admitted to be sound and founded on just principles, 
bodes ill for the future peace of the world. It savours of 
the evolution theories of Karl Marx and the survival of the 
fittest teaching of Darwin. We might compare it to the 
periodic volcanic eruptions of Mount Etna, v/hen the tension 
of the seething lava becomes too powerful, eruptions follow. 
With Bernhardi the Providence of God, the Christian spirit 
of peace, and the elective voice of democracy, count for 



Vi: INTRODUCTION. 

nothing. Liberty, freedom and justice must make way for 
physical force and the material law of necessity on which 
his reasoning is built. 

Does it occur to the school of which Bernhardi is the 
mouthpiece that there is such a thing as liberty? Does he 
build his theory of government on rulers governing indepen- 
dent of the people, or does he cling to the good old creed of 
Lincoln, ** Government of the people, for the people, by the 
people "? 

It is some consolation in the face of this vortex 
of war, universal almost over Europe, in which democrats 
and aristocrats, Jews and Gentiles, Mahommedan and Chris- 
tian are indiscriminately engaged on either side contending 
for what God alone knows and slaying each other with a 
power and hate unknovv^n hitherto in ancient or modern 
times, to turn our minds, sick with the horror of it all, to 
the home of true Democracy and the land of free institu- 
tions, and to recall scenes that were made sacred and heroes 
that are immortal in the Republic of the West. 

It is now almost one hundred years and fifty since Thomas 
Jefferson, a Virginian law^^er and statesman, penned the 
Declaration of Independence; and it was just twelve years 
later that the American Constitution was drafted in Con- 
vention of delegates from the thirteen States, presided over 
by George Washington and ably assisted by fifty-one dele- 
gates, amongst whom was the sage, scientist and first states- 
man and diplomat of his day, Benjamin Franklin. It is 
comforting to lovers of free institutions to contemplate that 
this Constitution, drawn up by a nation's representatives in 
those distant days when ninety-seven per cent, of the 
colonists worked on the land and at a time when not more 
than ten or fifteen per cent, of the people in the world lived 
in towns, has stood the test of time, and to-day is looked 
upon by constitutional writers and statesmen in every clime 
as the model to which other nations are tending. That this 
Constitution was perfect when launched upon the nation, its 



INTRODUCTION. VU 

framers never claimed. That it was elastic enough and 
under able management, was capable of achieving the ends 
of its authors, time has sufficiently demonstrated. There 
were giants amongst those Constitution builders, and the 
ablest experts, viz., Marshall and Jay and Jefferson, built 
up the dry bones of the written document and expounded 
and expanded it in conformity with its spirit and letter in 
such a manner that it has admirably answered its end, viz., 
to give to a free and independent people as permanent and 
stable a form of government as the mind of man could 
devise. 

The colonies by their representatives assembled in 
Congress in Philadelphia in the initial stages of the 
Revolution, give us the true ideals aimed at by 
the United States in framing their Constitution. 
" We hold," say they, " these truths to be self- 
evident, that all men are created equal and that they 
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; 
that among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness ; that to secure those rights governments are instituted 
among men, drawing their power from the consent of the 
governed; that when any form of government becomes 
destructive of these ends it is the undoubted right of the 
people to alter or abolish it and institute new government, 
and when such government, as in the case of Britain (in 
those colonial days) becomes tyrannical and subversive of 
freedom, then the duty to institute just government is 
urgent and imperative. And in conclusion, we invoke the 
Supreme Buler of nations to guide us in framing a Constitu- 
tion and in establishing a government in America, the most 
free and happy and independent that human wisdom and 
the perfection of man can attain." 

That the Constitution drawn up after the Eevolution in 

1787 has survived the tests to which a century and more 

of government has subjected it is a sufficient guarantee of 

its perfection. Perhaps the severest strain put upon the 

h 



vm INTRODUCTION. 

patriotism of the American nation and the stabiHty of theii' 
free institutions, estabHshed and moulded under the im- 
mortal Washington, was the Civil War fought under the 
Presidency of Lincoln, when North and South met in deadly 
combat and desisted not until the solidarity of the Union 
was secured with a loss to the nation of 600,000 slain and 
700,000 disabled, and at a cost to the nation of 2,000 million 
pounds. This war was really to test the permanency of their 
Union and Constitution. They fought for the right of the 
people's choice to govern the entire Union. They fought 
against the continuance of slavery in their free country. 
They fought against the right of any State in the Union to 
secede from the Federation and against the claim put for- 
ward by the Southern States of nullifying a particular law 
of the Federal Government, It took eighty years to test 
and knit the written Constitution and to cement and make 
stable the work of the fathers of their nation; and in the 
war fought with a fury, inspired not by hate but in defence 
of opposite ideals of liberty, the best of America's sons 
sanctified the virgin soil of their beloved land by their 
blood. 

Lincoln, in his Gettysburgh speech, familiar to every 
schoolboy, speaks thus: " During the war of emancipation 
your fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation 
conceived in liberty, and now after fourscore and seven 
years w^e are met on this battlefield to consecrate and 
dedicate this ground for those who gave up their lives to 
test whether this or any nation so conceived and so dedicated 
can long endure." 

The charter purchased by the blood of the sons of America 
in the war for Independence kindled a beacon light, the 
beams of which reached over the Atlantic and pointed the 
way to liberty to the nations of Europe. It sounded the 
death-knell of the personal rule of George of England, and 
though the franchise was not immediately granted to all 
freemen in Britain, nor was the rotten borough system 



INTRODUCTION . IX 

abolished for some years later, absolutism in government 
went down with the rise of free institutions in the lost 
colonies, and it is worthy of note that just then the patriots 
in Ireland led by Grattan were emboldened to insist on 
Irish freedom, backed loyally by the Irish Volunteers. The 
immortal Grattan, in one of his greatest speeches, said : 
** The American Eevolution was the. first great movement 
of the world's mind towards popular power." And adds: 
" America was the only hope and refuge of the liberties 
of mankind, and it was a voice from her shores that shouted 
across the Atlantic, liberty to Ireland." 

In the eighteenth century legislation and administration 
were practically controlled by the Crown, the Cabinet and 
the ofi&cial ring. The elective system, limited as it was, 
was merely a nominal check on the monopolists of power. 
In Prussia, until the latter half of the last century, a vote 
of one of the dominant class equalled fifteen plebeian 
electors. 

In France the state of servitude of the lower and 
bourgeois class was deplorable, and though serfdom was only 
legitimate in Russia and Prussia in the years prior to the 
French Revolution, yet, owing to the disabilities and exac- 
tions of the Crown, all beneath the aristocrats and clergy 
and crown were serfs under a different name. 

From the time that Louis XIV. ascended the throne until 
Louis XVI. was beheaded, a period of 160 years, the 
Constitution v/as suspended, and although there were nomi- 
nally thirteen Provincial Parliaments, yet the King and his 
council of forty ruled the nation; and when we consider 
that Louis, George and Frederic were absolute rulers of 
their standing armies, we may not be surprised at the saying 
of Louis XIV. : " I am the State." 

" The French Revolution," says MacCafirey, in his " His- 
tory of the Church," " was then not a sudden outburst of 
popular fury caused by some passing act of oppression. It 
was the result of forces partly social and political, partly 



X INTRODUCTION . 

literary and religious, which had been working in harmony 
for a long time, aimed against absolutism of the Crown and 
the teaching of Christianity." And just as to England and 
Ireland a wave of liberty was wafted from the West, so also, 
says Thomas Jefferson, who lived in Paris as American 
Consul prior to and for a short period after the eruption in 
France broke out, ** the war for Independence in America 
aroused the thinking part of France from the sleep of 
despotism in which they were sunk. ' ' The officers who had 
been to America in the war were mostly young aristo- 
crats like Lafayette, less shackled by habit and prejudice 
after their return and more ready to assent to suggestions 
of common sense and common feelings of what was right 
than others. They came back with new ideas and impres- 
sions. The Press also began to disseminate more liberal 
views on government. Conversation assumed new freedom 
and politics became the theme of every rank in society; 
women even joined the political clubs and circles because 
it was a la 7node. The patriotic flame thus ignited soon 
launched the nation into the throes of the uncontrollable 
revolution, and thus ceased forever the aristocratic rule in. 
France and the absolute rule of the Bourbon dynasty. 

Though these two momentous revolutions were waged in the 
name of liberty, and against tyranny and regal monopoly of 
government, yet one may wonder why results so divergent 
followed to the nations concerned. Why, though the French 
aimed at levelling down all the royal ramparts of privilege and 
power, did tyranny in one form or another still for many years 
raise its head around the thrones of Europe, and why did 
reforms, permanent and drastic such as we saw effected in 
America, not fructify for years, and why is it that still 
there is much room for the spread of true democratic institu- 
tions over the continent of Europe ? 

In seeking a cause for the slow spread of Democratic 
institutions in the Old World, one must remember that 
class distinction, privileges, monopolies, disparity in educa- 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

tional attainments and all those barriers that religion and 
statecraft bad reared in the feudal times acted and re- 
acted against the quiet expansion of democratic ideas and 
free instftntions amongst European nations, with their 
rights of primogeniture, State churches, and aristocratic 
habits and customs, going back into the distant past. In 
each nation in Europe there was an ascendancy party who 
held a tenacious grip of power; there was a privileged class 
with conservative instincts, in Church and State, who clung 
to the Crown, as their protector and patron, and who, inch 
by inch, resisted every encroachment on their prerogatives. 

America was differently situated, and the barriers raised 
in the Eevolution against a privileged class in Church and 
State never were set up, and equal opportunities to every 
citizen of the Union laid deep the roots of a true, real and 
permanent democracy. ** The watchword in America was 
* Educate the masses of the people.' The people are the only 
sure reliance of our liberty," said Washington. ** It is not 
by consolidating and concentrating power, but by distribut- 
ing it that good government is effected; let taxation and 
the utmost representation go hand in hand in our free 
country." 

One of America's foremost essayists has asserted that the 
Federal government in America was launched in the noon- 
day light of the world, after the feudal system was spent. 
It began in freedom and was defended from attacks by the 
facility with which, through popular assemblies, every 
necessary measure of reform can instantly be carried. " Our 
system of perpetual appeals to the people keeps up our 
identity and secures the reforms demanded. By this means 
also our government becomes conversant with the opinions 
of all classes." 

The liberty-loving statesmen of America ever kept in 
view the doctrine that all appeals to the people and all 
political struggles should aim at estabUshing morality as 
a basis of legislation, and that their free institutions in 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

which every man is allowed the utmost liberty, compatible 
with the moral code and the rights of others, is a necessary 
means to secure peace, happiness and justice to every class, 
sect and condition in society. 

America was the first nation in modern times that re- 
moved for all time the aristocratic and religious barriers — 
the ramparts of feudal times. " America," says Sydney 
Smith, " has fairly and completely and probably for ever 
extinguished that spirit of religious persecution which has 
been the employment and the curse of mankind for cen- 
turies, not only that persecution which imprisons and 
scourges for religious opinions, but the tyranny of incapaci- 
tation which, by disqualifying from civil ofifiees and cutting 
a man off from the lawful objects of ambition, endeavours 
to strangle religious freedom in silence and to enjoy all the 
advantages without the blood and noise and fire of 
persecution." 

Perhaps after this war is happily terminated, a war in 
which sects of every shade of belief are fighting side by side, 
we may see realized over the world the ideals so admirably 
expressed by Smith and so faithfully put in practice for a 
century in the United States of America. Prior to the 
Revolution there was a privileged church in America — a 
branch of the Anglican and a paid pastor by rates levied on 
all denominations. The Constitution left all forms of belief 
on the same footing in the eyes of the law. A reform 
which gave a great impetus to the spread of Catholicism, 
and just because of the connection between Church and 
State in England and France may w^e attribute the dead-and- 
alive attitude, if not open revulsion, to the practice of 
religion. 

In estimating the causes why Democratic institutions 
were of so slow growth over Europe, it is also necessary to 
remember the rise and fall of Napoleon and the consequent 
return of the Bourbons, as well as the lack of educational 
facilities for the poorer classes. When Napoleon fell a 



INTRODUCTION. xiu 

concert of crowned heads formed an alliance to maintain 
the statu quo and keep regal and monarchial ascendancy 
in the nations, and it was not until the middle of the last 
century that the nations of Europe offered State aid to 
educate the masses of their people. One might well wonder 
was it the policy in those days of decaying feudalism to 
keep the people ignorant. " Educate the people and so 
make them free," is a maxim now admitted by all. We 
saw that the education of the masses was one of the first 
concerns of American statesmen, and after their emancipa- 
tion richly endowed primary, secondary and higher schools 
rose up over the land and followed the pioneers out West 
from ocean to ocean. 

Progress then for obvious reasons was slow in Europe in 
following the admirable lead given in the virgin soil of 
America. Yet following the authority of Lord Bryce we 
must not despair. He says : " The Americans are believed 
to disclose and display the type of institution towards 
which, as by a law of fate, the rest of the civilized world 
are forced to move, some swifter, others slower, but all with 
unhesitating foot." 

It might not be uninteresting to expound in this connec- 
tion the basic principle on which the Federal plan of 
America's free institutions is framed. Each ward in the 
American Republic is a small republic within itself, and 
every man in the States is an active member of the common 
government, transacting in a subordinate way portion of 
the rights and duties in subordination to the general Federal 
government. 

The State governments and the Federal government are 
co-ordinate departments of one single and integral whole. 
To the State governments are reserved all legislation and 
administration in affairs which concern their own citizens only, 
and to the Federal government is given whatever concerns 
foreigners or the citizens of other States. The one is the 
domestic, the other the foreign branch of the same govern- 



xiv INTRODUCTION. 

ment, neither having Qontrol over the other, but within its 
own department. 

Madison, fourth President of the States, is perhaps the 
best authority on the Constitution; by pen and speech he 
did as much as any of the great men of his day to make 
the charter acceptable to the nation. He says: " The 
American Constitution is neither national nor federal, but 
a composition of both. In its foundation it is federal not 
national; in its source from which the ordinary powers 
of the government are drawn it is partly federal, partly 
national. In its operations it is national, not federal. In 
its extent of powers it is partly federal, partly national; 
and finally in its authoritative mode of introducing amend- 
ments it is neither wholly federal nor wholly national." 

That an agreement on all the points of divergency 
amongst the representatives of the thirteen isolated colonies 
should be beset with innumerable obstacles and difficulties 
almost insurmountable was inevitable, and on this point 
we may let Washington explain. " The primary cause of 
all our dii^erences," he wrote, " lies in the different State 
governments and in their tenacity of that power which per- 
vades the whole system. Whilst individual sovereignty is 
so ordinarily contended for, whilst the local views of each 
State and separate interest by which they are so much 
governed will not yield to a more enlarged scale of politics, 
incompatibility in the laws of the different States and dis- 
respect to those of the general government renders our 
situation difficult to readjust." 

That so elastic and harmonious a Constitution from the 
deliberations of the Constitution builders, after a long ses- 
sion extending over five months, was effected under the able 
chairmanship of Washington, augurs well for similar 
attempts even on a scale bordering on an international 
federation whereby peace may for all time be secured to the 
world. 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

Surely tlie task is not insurmountable for the statesmen of 
the nations, perhaps, embracing the best minds in the world's 
history to solve the problem of the future peace among nations. 
The balance of power theory has gone under with a crash, 
millions of men and billions of money have been sacrificed, 
and still we are no nearer that security for which the world 
longs and prays to-day. 

The people have been and are taxed beyond the dream 
of what our fathers ever conceived as possible, and why? 
To build fleets and raise armies not for peace but war; to 
destroy the manhood of the nations, and this because there 
is no power in the nations superior to the cabinets and coun- 
sels of the powers that rule us to cry halt, and crush the 
spirit of militarism over the earth. 

Did the Ruler of the universe step down from his Throne 
on High and quell this mania for power and wealth and 
war, then all would be well, but He allows the utmost liberty 
to rulers and ruled, and He expects that they will carry 
out His commands. " Peace on earth " is the command 
of the Prince of Peace. Let Christian charity, brotherly 
love reign on earth and inspire rulers and people. Since 
rulers hitherto have not reached the ideals of the Master, 
the vox populi which is the vox Dei must be heard and 
this voice is for abolishing war for all time. 

An International Federation or co-ordination of the 
powers must be the medium to establish this peace, and 
would that my voice could reach the democracies in every 
land. Would that men like Henry, the Demosthenes of 
the American Ee volution, would come forth from their 
native wilds and rouse the nations to awake and battle by 
word and act to destroy the tyranny of militarism, the 
standing fleets of increasing magnitude and the mammoth 
armies of the world? Would that a chairman like the 
illustrious Washington could be found to preside at a con- 
ference that would federate the powers of the world in bonds 



XVi INTRODUCTION. 

of international extent to keep secure the future peace of 
the world. 

There is just, in conclusion, a few words of criticism 
and warning I would advance to the free and independent 
people of America. 

She, whilst secure in her Constitution and free institu- 
tions, has to beware of the spirit of Eationalism and 
Materialism and Deism vitiating the springs of her vitality. 

The Americans, when first they launched out in a free, 
self-governing nation, held firmly to the belief that the 
people should be liberally educated and encouraged to take 
an intelligent and practical part in the government and 
advancem.ent of their country. The older generations, 
those who made their country free and independent, dreaded 
foreign influence and European culture, and they deterred 
foreign professors from propounding their new theories in 
Philosophy, Economics, and Eeligion. But as time wore 
on, new men and new ideas came upon the scene and the 
latset nostrums from Jena, the latest finery from Paris, and 
the latest in the fine arts from Florence became fashionable 
with the leaders of thought and society in New York. The 
Huxlevs and Darwins, Haeckels and Karl Marxs were re- 
ceived as new lights in the most cultured American literary 
society. We saw how the teaching of John Wesley took 
root, and after the war almost supplanted Anglicanism in 
religion, and how anarchists and Mormons, socialists and 
other undesirables came over from the oppressed and vice- 
laden cenl^res in the Old World, and how the American Con- 
stitution allowed them a home and was at the same time 
fit to assimilate them and make them observe the laws of 
the Federation. But the waves of higher criticism and 
culture and the poison of materialistic teaching imbibed 
in the seats of learning of the nation is a poison that eats 
into the souls and hearts of men and cannot be expelled by 
human laws of the most perfect constitutions. The churches 
may rail and rant as they have argued and en- 



INTRODUCTION . XVll 

deavoured to refute the anti-Christian tenents brought 
over from Europe and nurtured on the free and not unfertile 
soil of America ; but the churches in great part have wasted 
their sweetness on desert places, and to-day men looked 
up to as leaders in the educational world of America openly 
avow their Atheism, and the churches to still keep a hold, 
though feeble, on their followers are forced to tone down 
the Word of God, and to make the churches attractive by 
calling to their aid music and comedy more theatrical than 
religious. The trend of the sects in America to-day is 
towards Unitarianism. 

The real, vital, conservative religious power in the States} 
is the Catholic Church. She has falsified the old theory 
of her enemies that only imder monarchy can she prosper. 
She shows to all that it is possible to be a dutiful subject under 
Republican rule and still a firm believer in the Catholic 
Creed and a loyal child and obedient to the Chair of Peter. 
She changes not with the novelties of the scientists. Her 
code of doctrine and morals has unchanged from the days 
^Yh.en Bishop Carroll ruled alone over the entire Union, and 
to-day men of every rank. Governors of States and Presi- 
dent of the nation freely acknowledge the loyalty of the 
Catholic Church to the Republic and the consistent support 
of Catholic pastors given to correct abuses and reform the 
moral of the people. And the names that are most revered 
over the Union by all denominations are Cardinal Gibbons 
and the great Bishop Ireland, staunch pillars of the Church 
and true Americans, and both sons of Holy Ireland. 

The framers of the Constitution always presupposed that 
their free institutions should go hand in hand with Christian 
ideals and be leavened by them, and that the moral code 
of the Decalogue should keep their race and nation on true 
Christian lines. Hence at every turn in their public duties 
they set the noble and beautiful example to those that 
might follow them to invoke the Euler of the Universe to 
guide them in all their deliberations. What maj^ be the 



XViii INTRODUCTION. 

fate of their nation if the Christian law ceases to permeate 
the lives and acts of the people, I will not stop to consider; 
but of one truth I am assured, that as long as the people's 
legislators trust in God and keep His law their nation will 
prosper and continue to carry out the designs of its founders : 
the peace, happiness and prosperity of the people. 



The Presbytery, 

Ballymoney, 

Co. Antrim. 



February 1st, 1915 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . iii. 

CHAPTER I. 

Childhood and Early Youth . . . . . . 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Life as Surveyor . . . . . . . . 12 

CHAPTER III. 

First Military Service . . . . . . 21 

CHAPTER IV. 

Washington in Temporary Command . . . . 31 

CHAPTER V. 

His Final Colonial Service . . . . . . 39 

CHAPTER VI. 

Farmer and Congressman . . . . . . 48 

CHAPTER VII. 

Washington Chosen Commander-in-Chief . . 66 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Mrs. W^ashington in Camp. — Social Side of 

Washington's Life . . . . . . 90 

CHAPTER IX. 

Campaign Around New York.— Battle of Long 

Island . . . . • • • . . 94 

CHAPTER X. 

Retreat Across the Jerseys . . . . . . 107 



XX 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XI. PAGE 

Washington's Energy. — Hopefulness and Plans 
FOR THE Future Effectiveness of the Army. 
— Battles of Trenton and Princeton 



CHAPTER XII. 

The General's Hands Strengthened 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Foreign Aid and Sympathy 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Howe Sails for Philadelphia. — ^Battles of 
Brandy WINE and Germanstown 

CHAPTER XV. 

War in the South and the Franco-Spanish 
Alliance . . 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Washington's Difficulties in '79 



CHAPTER XVII. 



The Year 1780 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Finance Troubles. — The Daughters of Liberty. 
— Lafayette and the Arrival of Count de 
Rochambeau with Fleet 

CHAPTER XIX. 

A Survey of American Difficulties and their 
Remedy. — Winter of 1780 and 1781 

CHAPTER XX. 

Rival Addresses Issued by the Contending 
Parties. — American People and Events and 
Warfare. — Leading up to Yorktown 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Reflections on the War. — Causes Leading up 
to Final Victory . . 



112 



127 



131 



137 



144 



152 



157 



165 



170 



180 



189 



CONTENTS. Xxi 

CHAPTER XXII. PAGE 

Washington and his Army. — Difficulties to 
Keep Down Insurrection. — The Love of 
Army for General. — Washington Taking 
LEAVE of Army and Congress . . . . 194 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Home Life at Mount Vernon from 1783 to 1789 203 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Confederation. — Federal Convention and 

Constitution. — The First President . . 217 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Washington's Second Term as President (1793 

TO 1797) . . . . . . . . . . 234 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Death and Burial of Washington. — Character- 
istics. — His Place in History . . . . 249 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

French Revolution and American Affairs . . 261 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Washington's Contemporaries. — Franklin, 

Jefferson and Paine . . . . . . 273 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The American Navy in the Revolution . . 284 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Irish in the Revolution . . . . . . 288 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Army Wanted to Make Washington King.— 

The Society of Cincinnati . . . , . 321 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Sketch or Summary of Chief Points of Con- 
stitution . . . . . . . . . . 325 



Xxil LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

APPENDIX A. PAGE 

The Declaration of Independence of United 335 
States of America 

APPENDIX B. 

A Chart on the Constitution of United States. 

— ^The Constitution . . . . . . 342 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

George Washington . . . . . . Frontispiece 

Columbus Discovering America . . . . 30 

Bunker's Hill . . . . . . . . 78 

The Declaration of Independence . . . . 96 

Washington Reading a Despatch . . . . 140 

List of Names . . . . . . . . 160 

The British Surrendering their Arms to General 

Washington, 1781 . . . . . . . . 189 

Five Friends of Washington and Past Presidents 229 

Tomb and Residence of Washington . . . . 254 

Benjamin Franklin . . . . . . . . 276 

John Paul Jones . . . . . . . . 286 

The Death of General Montgomery . . . . 311 

Abraham Lincoln . . . . . . • . 328 



iLite of Masbinoton. 



CHAPTER I. 

Childhood and Early Youth. 



In writing tlie life oi; George Washington a passage occurs 
to the mind from the preface of Plutarch's Life of Alcxcinilcr 
flic Great which miglit appropriately be quoted in this 
opening chapter. It will serve as an apology to such of 
mv readers as mav wish for more details than are given in 
Ynj narrative of the celebrated battles and famous exploits 
of this illustrious man. 

" It is my purpose," says Plutarch, " to write the lives 
of Alexander the King and of Caesar, by whom Pompey was 
destroyed. The multitude of their great actions affords so 
large a field that I were to blame, if I should not by way 
of apology forewarn my readers that I have chosen rather 
to epitomise the most celebrated parts of their story than 
to insist at large on every particular circumstance of it. It 
nuisb be borne in mind that my design is not to write 
histories but lives ; and the most glorious exploits do not 
always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or 
vice in men; sometimes a matter of less moment, an expres- 
sion or a jest, informs us better of their characters and 
inclinations than the most famous sieges, the greatest 
armaments or the bloodiest battles. Therefore as portrait- 
painters are more exact on the lines and features of the 
face in which the character is seen than in other parts of 
the body, so I must be allowed to give my more particular 
attention to the marks and indications of the souls of 
men; and while I endeavour by these to pourtray their 

A 



2 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

lives, may be free to leave more weighty matters and great 
battles to be treated by others." 

George Washington was born in Virginia, U.S., in the 
County of Westmoreland, on the 22nd of February, 1732. 
He was the eldest of six children borne to his father, 
Augustine Washington, by his second wife, Mary Ball, there 
having been four children by a first marriage, of whom 
two, Lawrence and Augustine, lived to manhood, the others 
dying in early youth. 

The pedigree of the Washingtons can be traced back for 
over 600 years. They were of Norman descent, and are 
supposed to have " come over with the Conqueror " and 
settled in the shire of Durham. There is some doubt about 
the original name of the family. The present form of it 
is derived, with some modifications, from the estate our 
hero's forefathers possessed for centuries under the lordship 
of the Bishop of Durham. They were at one time known 
as the De Hertburn's, then De Wessyngton, and finally 
Washington, when the old Norman " De " was changed for 
Esqr. or Mr. The change from Hertburn to Washington 
followed the change of territory of the possessor. The 
surname in those days followed the name of the territory 
or estate owned by the possessor. It was in the reign 
of Henry the Sixth that the ** De " was generally dropped 
from surnames and the English terms Esqr. or Grentleman 
substituted. 

They were a martial race, those forefathers of George 
Washington, and for generations supplied their episcopal 
lords with men and provender. Sir Henry Washington 
fought in the Civil War on the side of the King, and so 
stubbornly did he defend the citadel of Worcester that he 
was still in arms, when the unlucky sovereign himself had 
given up his cause in despair. This trait of Sir Henry's 
character, a reference to which underlies the motto on the 
family arms, " He hoped against hope," we shall see again 
exemplified by his great descendant, when, as Commander- 



CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH. 6 

in-Chief of the American Army of Independence, he held 
out with fortitude and perseverance when hope had all but 
died in army and senate. When the cause of Charles 
became hopeless, the Washingtons, in the year 1657, sailed 
from England; and John and Lawrence, the first of whom 
was great grandfather of the future President, settled in 
Virginia, near the Potomac river, and followed the occupa- 
tion of farmers and stockholders. 

The fatlier of George Washington possessed large tracts 
of land in the Old Dominion (as Virginia was named by its 
aristocratic settlers), and at his death, which occurred in 
1743, when he was forty-nine years of age, he bequeathed 
the farm on which he died to George, then a boy of eleven. 
The estate at Mount Vernon,, where our hero, when in 
private life, lived, and where he eventually died, he left 
to Lawrence, the eldest son of his first marriage. 

The early training of young colonials in the eighteenth 
century was mainly left to their parents or tutors, as in 
country districts there were few opportunities outside the 
family circle for the education of the young. Where the 
colonist was isolated the first rudiments of secular know- 
ledge were imparted at home; but in thickly-planted areas 
schools were opened and maintained by combination among 
the settlers and by voluntary contributions. It was only 
in the more Eastern and maritime settlements that per- 
manent educational institutions existed, and their success 
and efficiency varied with the resources and intelligence of 
the colonists. Those among the larger planters who could 
afford private tutors for their families did procure them. 
In some instances the eldest boys were sent over to the 
English Colleges to complete their education and prepare 
for the professions. The College of William and Mary gave 
a sound classical and English training to those who entered 
its halls. It was in this College that Thomas Jefferson, 
lawyer and statesman, was educated. Washington had not 
the advantage of classical or College education. It is re- 



4 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

corded that tlie early education of young " Master George " 
was in part entrusted to a Mr. Hobby, sexton to tlie Pro- 
testant Church wliicli stood on his father's estate; and 
some years later, after his father's death, he was sent to 
a Mr. Williams near to the plantation on Bridge's Creek 
of his brother Augustine. Under Mr. Williams he learned 
higher arithmetic, book-keeping, drawing, and surveying. 
None of the family received a higher training than was 
necessary to qualify them for the life of a farmer or siu- 
^eyor, except Lawrence, who at an early age was sent to 
England and afterwards entered the British Navy as lieu- 
tenant under Admiral Vernon, after whom Blount Vernon 
is named. 

The parents of George Washington, as \Ae are tc^ld in 
Upham's '■ Life," were eminently qualified to instruct 
the minds and develop the character of their rising family, 
a fact amply attested by the after lives of their children. 
The high moral tone and religious feeling notable in Washing- 
ton and his disciplined mind and the high ideals and 
principles that shone forth in his character and actuated 
all his actions from boyhood were in great part the fruit of 
the early training given to him by his parents. The gifts 
with wliich nature endowed him were lovingly developed. 
Nature showered on him her choicest blessings. She gave 
to him as the foundation of all his other excellences a 
strong and robust constitution, capable of much endurance. 
In statui'e he was tall and commanding. His countenance 
was pleasing, yet sutliciently sexere to dispel from the mind 
of the beholder any idea of undue softness, pliability or 
want of fixity of purpose and determination. His faculties 
were under the control of a strong miud and iron will. 
He could be vivacious, siDortive and agreeable without yield- 
ing to frivolity or buffoonery or relaxing in the slightest 
form a manner which in ordinary mortals would have been 
styled pompous; but in so towering and commanding a 
personality was the natural concomitant of power and 



CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH. 5 

genius. He was from youth distinguished among his com- 
panions for grace and dignity and manly deportment ; his 
was in very fact a personahty that marked him out as a 
superior by right and a born ruler of men. These qualities 
of head and heart were, as we have said, carefully con- 
trolled, admirably trained and suitably developed by the 
care and culture of parental discipline. The method with which 
ever}' act was performed, the neat, precise, and clear manner 
in which his early exercises and first attempts at book- 
keeping, copying, drawing and arithmetic and mensuration 
were performed — these early exercises are still extant — 
the caution and self-control that followed him in after life 
could have been produced and formed into firm habits })y 
no other agencies than the early training in tender years of 
a wise and vigilant father and mother. Nature did her part 
by him nobly, but it required judicious and capable parents 
to develop their gifted boy's faculties and draw forth his 
latent talents. George seems to have been the favourite 
child, the best beloved of his parents, and he was admired 
and looked up to by the other members of his family on 
account of his agreeable manner and brotherl^^ affection. 
His manly bearing and deportment, as his 3'outh advanced, 
made him admired by all his youthful companions, and 
tliose high ideals, noble aims and lofty principles, accom- 
panied by a fearless daring and courage in the cause of 
right, which recommended him to his countrymen in his 
manhood as the soul of chivalry and honour and impressed 
the world with respect and veneration for his name, early 
attracted his jouthful compeers and marked him out as 
their loved and admired leader. He early evinced a pre- 
dilection for military tournaments, and in those juvenile sham 
battles with rude arms he always commanded and led in 
the charge. We see noted in the boyhood of Napoleon 
similar instances of precocious love of mimic battles and 
sieges. 

The surroundings of Washington's early years in rural 



b LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Virginia assisted much in moulding and forming his mind 
and character. Frorri his tenderest years he was surrounded 
by no evil associates and kept removed from temptations to 
low or mean acts by loving and vigilant parents. Every- 
thing that could foster virtuous action, upright dealing, and 
noble resolve, was encouraged, anything savouring of mean- 
ness or dishonourable conduct was eliminated as poison from 
the home surroundings of his family. 

As an instance of the care and religious training of 
Washington's youth it is recorded in Washington Irving's 
interesthig biography that his mother, in the evenings after 
her household work was over, gathered her little family 
around her and read to them a chapter out of George 
Matthew Hales' " Moral and Divine Contemplations," her 
favourite book. Like Queen Blanche, the mother of St. 
Louis, she instilled into their tender minds a love of good- 
ness and a horror of offending God. This dear old volume 
was bequeathed by his mother to our hero when he entered 
upon the Seven Years' War for Independence. He carried 
it about with him during life, with the autograph of Mary 
Washington on its front page, and when he died it was 
found among his effects at Mount Vernon. As he was ever 
noted not so much for words as for deeds, so he was not so 
remarkable for enthusiasm in prayer as for a strong silent 
faith in the Providence of God, the watchful ruler of men 
and nations. We know from his correspondence, now public 
property, that he manifested great trust in and reverence 
for God, and that at a time when his fortunes were almost 
hopeless, both in his retreat across the Jerseys and in his 
quarters at Valley Forge, when starvation and annihilation 
of his army stared him in the face. The Eev. Mr. Barnes 
recounts how, in the woods above Philadelphia, outside the 
camp, unseen by his army, he was accustomed, in the 
darkest hours of the war, on bended knees, to address his 
Maker in prayer. To his fond mother must be given the 
credit for this prayerful habit in our hero. 



CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH. 7 

Washington early in life mapped out a code of rules for 
his own guidance. In these one can gauge the sagacious 
mind of the precocious youth. These " rules of behaviour 
and conversation," as he stjded them, amounting to about 
one hundred, and which he studied to put in practice during 
his after life, showed great maturity of judgment, and point 
out how observant he was as a boy of what was apt and 
correct in word and act. He also from time to time noted 
in his diary, which has come dow^n to us, principles of 
civility and propriety which reflect the wisdom and virtue 
Washington's life remarkably exemplifies. How well does 
not the life of Washington prove the Scripture truth that the 
lessons of youth will not depart from us in old age. As the 
child is father to the man, so his mother's early training of 
his rare natural endowments show forth in his acts to his 
latest day. Virginia, in the boyhood days of Washington, 
was unlike in most things from w^hat we now know it. 
There were no tow'ns or cities in the Dominion. Norfolk, 
the largest village, had 600 inhabitants, and WilUams- 
burgh was a struggling township; and although the capital 
of the State had few houses, the population of the entire 
State was scarcely half a million, and one-half of these were 
negroes and poor whites or servants and descendants of 
convicts who lived in villages on the plantations of the 
prosperous settlers and tilled their land and herded their 
stock. The Virginian Colonial planters were a proud, in- 
dependent race, who loved liberty for themselves after their 
aristocratic fashion. They were conservative in their ten- 
dencies and exclusive in their legislation. They rigidly 
ignored all religions but the Episcopalian, and such a noble- 
man as Lord Fairfax and his cousin, Sir William, found a 
congenial home among them. The Fairfaxs were neigh- 
bours to the Washingtons and by their inter-marriage were 
related to Lawrence, George's half-brother. 

The population was thickest along the rivers and lakes 
and seaboard. There were no industries among them 



8 ' LIFE OF WASIIINDTON. 

except the raising of tobacco, wheat and wool, which were 
sold to English merchants, who in turn imported manvi- 
factured goods and Eastern luxuries amongst them. There 
was little money in circulation among the colonists, although 
their circumstances were comfortable. There were no mail 
coaches in those bjegone days and no roads worthy of the 
name. The post-bag was carried on horseback or on post- 
waggons every fortnight. Pedlars passed amongst the 
colonists disj^osing of merchandise. Here and there one 
might meet in populous districts mills to grind the grain 
and taverns and stores to supph^ the necessaries required 
by the inhabitants. 

The medical doctor was " rare " and not of much account. 
Lawyers were to l)e mot in the imj^ortant townships and 
salaried clergy were ninnerous in town and comitry. " The 
latter," says Lodge in his Life of ]y(ishingiou, " were men 
of little culture except those who gave themselves up to 
the useful art of instructing in Colleges and schools the 
youth. As for the rest of the clerical faculty they mixed 
freely with the vulgar and men little above the ordinary 
planter in morals or respecta])ility." The Virginians were a 
social, jovial and hospitable race. Dancing and nuisic, 
hunting and fishing were popular and much practised 
pastimes. Such famous Virginians as P. Henry and Jeffer- 
son were in youth famed for playing the fiddle around the 
country at festive gatherings. 

The rural home of Washington, on the Virginian veldt on 
the banks of the Pappahannock, was an ideal locality to 
train and develop a youth of so much promise and destined 
by Providence to pla}^ so notable a part in his country's 
history- and in the history of the world. The mountains and 
plains of rural America produced many remarkable men. 
In fact her most renowned heroes and generals, her most 
famed statesmen, presidents and orators spent their youth- 
ful days and grew up to manhood in rural homes under the 
care of peasant 2:>arents. No State from the day on which 



CinLDIIOOD AND EARLY YOUTH. 9 

the Virginian Tliomus Jefferson drew up the Deckiration of 
Independence gave more renowned and patriotic men to 
the cause of country than Virginia, so named, we may re- 
mark, in the time of Elizabeth in perpetuation of her title 
of " Virgin Queen " bestowed on her bj^ her admirers. 
Among the Virginians who loomed largely in the Eevolution 
jieriod and in the passing of the Constitution were Jefferson, 
P. Henry, ■\Iunroe, Marshall, George Clarke, Eandolph 
]\Iason and Grayson. 

The environments of Virginia were suited in a marked 
degree to develop character. The spacious tracts of rich 
land that individual planters possessed gave to the settlers 
a feeling of liberty and independence. Each land-owner 
was in a certain sense " monarcli of all he surveyed." If 
anyone disputed his claims or supposed rights, as his lied 
neighbours often did, he was ready to repel invasion and 
assert his authority by force. Hence every planter was a 
soldier by necessity, if not always from choice. Self-defence 
and defence of his borders demanded of him that he should 
shoulder his arms. These wikl and romantic surroundings 
gave to youthful minds that bohl, daring, self-reliance that 
in Washington was so remarkable. He was, not alone in 
tlie early wars against the French and Red Indians, but in 
his later days, in the responsible position of Commander-in- 
Chief of the Confederate Army, noted for his fearless daring, 
never, however, it should be remarked, reckless or fool- 
l)ardy. The sociability and hospitality which were another 
feature of early rural life in Virginia, helped to foster in him 
that kind regard and compassionate consideration for others 
which were also notable traits in his character. A mind 
so susceptible must have been deepl}' moved and its imagi- 
native powers most vividly impressed by the record of ex- 
ploits of his martial ancestors in the far back days in the 
" Fatherland," as England was then designated by the 
loyal colonials. There was an hereditary leaning in the 
Washington family towards the profession of arms, and it 



10 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

early manifested itself in the minds of George and Lawrence. 
We see his half-brother, Lawrence, at the age of fourteen 
setting out to England to undergo his military training for 
the Navy, and in a few years set oft to the Indies under 
Admiral Vernon as Major to fight at Carthagena against the 
Spanish fleet. The bravery of Lawrence Washington in the 
successful encounters on land and sea earned for him the 
friendship and encomiums of his commanders. 

As Washington Irving appropriately says : " The family 
for many generations maintained an equality of fortune and 
respectability and whenever brought to the test has acquitted 
itself with honour and loyalty. Hereditary rank may be 
an illusion; but hereditary virtue gives a patent of innate 
nobleness beyond all the blazonry of the Heralds' College." 

Another influence on the career of our hero, in addition to 
the family tradition in arms, must have been the tales with 
which he was familiar, of the deeds of daring incidental to 
the ever recurring encounters of the colonists with their 
fierce, intractable and relentless and treacherous neighbours, 
the Red Indians, who, perhaps not without reason, held in 
undying hate the white man of British origin. A brave 
youth must have, in such an atmosphere, been, early in life, 
forming plans and projects for a soldier's life and military 
renown. From the death of his father, when George was 
only eleven years old, the education and guardianship of 
the children devolved on Mrs. Washington. How capable 
his mother was for the responsible charge historians of her 
gifted son agree in attesting. Mrs. Washington was truly a 
remarkable woman. She was descended from the better 
class of colonials and endowed with a gifted mind, which 
circumstances enabled her parents to develope by a good 
edvication. Washington Irving thus speaks of her: " She 
was endowed with plain, direct, good sense, thorough con- 
scientiousness and prompt decision. She governed her 
family strictly, but kindly, exacting deference while she 
inspired affection. George being her eldest was thought to 



CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH. 11 

be her favourite, yet she never gave him undue preference, 
and the implicit deference exacted from him in childhood 
continued to be habitually observed by him to the day of his 
death. He inherited from her a high temper, and a spirit 
of command, but her early precepts and example taught 
him to restrain and govern that temper and to square his 
conduct on the exact principles of equity and justice." ]\Irs. 
Washington was repaid above other mothers in the success 
and good fortune that attended her children. It has been 
remarked that although she lived to see her favourite boy 
become the first man in the country, yet she was never 
unduly elated nor tempted to divert from her rigorous life 
and homely manners. When all around her were praising 
the " First Soldier and Father of his Country," she, like the 
mother of President Garfield, was filled with sentiments of 
humility and thankfulness to God, merely remarking that 
"he was a good son and performed his duty as a man." 
What Plutarch has written about Coriolanus might not 
unfitly be applied to Washington: " The fact that he was 
left an orphan and brought up under a widowed mother has 
shown us by experience that although the early death of a 
father may be attended with other disadvantages, yet it 
can never hinder anyone from being virtuous or eminent in 
the world, and that it is no obstacle to true greatness and 
goodness, however bad men may be pleased to lay the blame 
of their corruption on that misfortune." 

It was an early ambition with young colonials in the 
middle of the eighteenth century, especially with those of 
the better class, to obtain a commission in the armj^ or 
navy of England, and had George Washington's eldest 
brother, Lawrence, been successful in overcoming Mrs. 
Washington's opposition, the future irreconcilable from 
British rule in America might have begun his career as a 
midshipman. Providence thwarted the plans mapped out 
for the boy to enter the navy at the age of fourteen years 
and guided his course to another field of enterprise. A 



12 LIFE OF AVASniNGTON. 

coiTesi)oncleiit wlio knew the circumstances ot this event 
rekites that the word of his mother carried more weight with 
her promising boy than that of ten others urging him in a 
direction contrary to her wishes. AYhat micjht have been 
the future history of our hero and of his country, had the 
English navy been the career of his choice, we need not 
pause to consider. 

About this time, just before Washington had finished his 
education, at the age of sixteen, he had a love affair of a 
romantic character. There is evidence in his own hand- 
writing that he had conceived a passion for an unknown 
l)eauty, and we learn from Washington Irving that so 
seriously was his heart wounded by the darts of " Cupid," 
by her who is known to us from some amateur \'orses ho 
wrote as tlie " lowland beauty," that " he ])ined in pitiless 
grief and woe," and was driven to lament in a couplet he 
wrote in connection with this affair of his juvenile heart : 

" Ah, woe is rnc that I should love and conceal, 
Long have I wished and never dare reveal." 

The silent, bashful boy, it is to be noted, sedate and 
decorous as he was, had a heart like other mortals, and 
" sighing like furnace," makes known his kinship with the 
rest of the world. The mother of Light Horse Harry TiCe, 
of Revolution fame, a ^liss Grimes, of Westmoreland, was 
supposed to be the " lowland beauty " of his affection. Lee 
was ever a favourite with Washington, probably from early 
recollections of this affair. We find him [is President in 
friendly correspondence with light-hearted Harry Lee. 

CHAPTER II. 

Life as Suhvevok. 

Washington's school days ended when he was sixteen 
years, and an appointment as land surveyor was obtained 
for him through the influence of Lawrence, sou-in-hiw of 



LIFE AS SURVEYOR. 13 

Sir William Fairfax. There were no Universities or Colleges 
ill the neighbourhood in his native Virginia in those days. 
The Virginians were mainly engaged in farming and most 
of them ambitioned no higher profession. Farming was to 
be the avocation of their boys, and farming was in those 
days a respectable avocation, not more than three per cent, 
of the colonists one hundred and fifty years ago being 
independent of the land. The education of Washington, 
when setting out on his surveying expedition, would corre- 
spond to that of a well-informed pupil in the Seventh Stan- 
dard of our National Schools. ^Mathematics in the higher 
stages, advanced book-keeping, mensuration, drawing, 
mapping and surveying were added to the ordinary subjects 
of reading, writing, grammar, geography, composition and 
spelling. Washington w^as a careful, diligent and efficient 
pupil. He wrote a good hand and his extant diaries of those 
days show that he could express his ideas with much grace, 
^lethod and order and diligence were notes of his character 
as a pupil, and from his collection of axioms written about 
this time we glean the fact that he considered work a neces- 
saiT rule of a well-ordered life. " Labour," says he, " to 
keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire 
called conscience." Some time prior to Washington's 
entering on the office of surveyor he had been living at Mount 
Vernon \\'ith Lawrence. The Fairfaxes were his neighbours. 
Sir William, cousin to Lord Fairfax, was, a man who had 
seen much ot^ the world and had acted many joarts honour- 
ably and well, as a British subject. He early received educa- 
tion of a liberal kind and in youth joined the army. He 
served with distinction in the European wars and on retire- 
ment Mas rewarded by the post of Governor of the State of 
New Providence. His cousin, Lord Fairfax, had some years 
been resident in America. He possessed patents for large 
tracts of unclaimed land on Virginian borders adjoining the 
Ohio and the Blue Mountains. On these lands he built 



14 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

himself a residence and made his final resolve to end his 
days as an American citizen. Lord Fairfax was a nobleman 
advanced in years when George Washington became ac- 
quainted with him at Belvoir House beside Mount Vernon. 
This nobleman was the hero of a romantic love afifair in 
England, in which he was jilted. He mixed in high literary 
society and was an occasional contributor to the Spectator. 
Like all English squires he loved the chase and he had his 
beagles and foxes and hares and hawks transferred across 
to his Virginian home. Washington was on most intimate 
terms with the Fairfaxes, and often did he spend a social 
evening at Belvoir, their beautiful residence. Often, too, 
did he accompany to the hunt the kind, though eccentric 
lord, and between the youth and the nobleman a mutual 
attachment began to grow up. The observant old aristocrat 
saw in young Washington a lad of much promise, and divined 
in him a character that would become one day eminent in 
the annals of his country. He saw his aptness for the 
vacant position of mapping out the unreclaimed and bound- 
less territory that he possessed, and accordingly young 
Washington and Mr. George Fairfax, son of Sir William, 
were appointed to measure and map out the estate. 

In the position now entered upon Washington was 
engaged for three years, and in the diary written by him 
during those years and still preserved we have a most in- 
teresting account of his labours and hardships and experi- 
ences. From the perusal of this most interesting document 
we may infer that even at this early date he keenly appre- 
ciated and acted upon the injunction: " Whatsoever thy 
hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might." He tells us 
that now he was coasting along the banks of swollen rivers, 
fording creeks, toiling up steep mountains on horseback ! 
Again he is carried along on some turbulent current in shal- 
low and precarious small boats. He is exposed to wind 
and rain, snow and storm for days together, often sleeping 
on his rug beneath his blanket, exposed to the severest 



LIFE AS SURVEYOR. 15 

elements, without any protection except what the massive 
branches of the forest afford. At times his food consisted 
solely of the flesh of wild turkeys, cooked by a fire of 
brambles and served on broad chips of trees with wooden 
spits for forks. Often his nearest neighbours were lied 
Indians and not unfrequently he partook of their hospita- 
lity and was an amused witness of their recreations. In 
his diary we find an interesting and vividly written account 
of a " war dance " at which he was present. " We were 
agreeably surprised," says the diary, "at 2 a.m. at the 
sight of thirty Indians coming from war with only one scalp. 
We had a war dance, after clearing a large space and making 
a great fire in the middle. The men seated themselves 
around and the speaker made a grand speech, telling them 
in what manner they were to dance. After he had finished, 
the best dancer jumped up as one awakened from a sleep ; 
and ran and jumped about the ring in a most comical 
manner. He was followed by the rest. Then began the 
music which was performed with a pot full of water, with a 
deer-skin stretched tight over it, a gourd with some shot in 
it, to rattle, and a piece of moose tail to make it look fine. 
One person kept rattling and another drumming all the time 
they were dancing." 

It has been often made the subject of remark that there 
was not in the Revolution army the equal of Washington 
for grace and dignity as he passed along the lines mounted 
on his noble white charger. He was a famous and fearless 
horseman, and this necessary accomplishment for a soldier 
he learned on his native farm and perfected in his surveying 
days. The horse for a surveyor in early colonial times was 
as necessary as his chain or chart, and we are told that 
Washington rode with such ease and dignity and v\"ith such 
control of his steed that none ever could hope to excel him. 
There is a story told of him which well illustrates his courage 
and daring in horsemanship even before manhood. His 
mother had a young horse untrained to the bit and on which 



10 LIFE OF ^VASUINGTO^^ 

none hitherto had sat with success. Washington by strata- 
gem, thanks to his athletic and agile frame, was able to 
mount this intractible brute in the open plain. The steed 
reared on his hind legs, plunged forward and raced furiously 
with lightning speed. The daring youth kept his seat and 
never lost control. When at last neither rider nor the proud 
and furious steed would yield, the unbending animal made 
one final effort to release himself by vaulting in the air and 
in the fall broke his heart, his rider escaping unhurt. The 
incident is very characteristic of the un\'ielding nature of our 
hero, a trait very consj^icuous in his after life. We have 
been thus far minute in details of the early life and boyhood 
of Washington. We have purposely dwelt on what might in 
others seem trivial incidents of every-day occurrence. The 
little incidents of the youth of great men are important. We 
see the budding forth of genius, the blossoms peeping out 
of their tender covering in these minutiae of early life. In 
Washington's case they are small links in a long chain of 
evidence showing tlie hero in the boy, and from the study of 
his early life in detail there are lessons to be learned. 

Lives of great men all remind us;, 

We can make our lives sublinic, 
And departing leave behind us 

Footprints on the sands of time : 
Sailing o'er life's chequered main 

Some forlorn or shipwrecked brother 
Seeing may take heart again." 

'J'he beauty and perfection of Washington's life has been 
as a star illuminating the horizon of American greatness. 
Even the wisest, bravest and best of her sons have nowhere 
found a higher ideal to emulate than that realized in the 
*' Father of his Country." The more renowned the patriots 
and statesmen of the Eepublic, the more closely have they 
patterned their ideas on his and in their acts followed in his 
footsteps. 



LIFE AS SURVEYOR. 17 

The life of a surveyor a hundred years ago in Virginia was 
an education in itself. It developed the physical and mental 
faculties. Scaling rocks and mountains, fording rivers, 
rowing and swimming hardened the body. These varied and 
arduous exercises were continued in Washington's case with 
little intermission, with no luxuries or social comforts, for 
three long years at a time when the boy was just budding 
into manhood. From his diary we learn that the labours 
of each day were severe and often performed in localities 
beset with many difi&cvilties. " One da}^" he writes, *' we 
mapped off 1,600 acres and slept that night at a squatter's 
hut, the first roof that covered us for ten days." There can 
be no doubt that the camping-out life in the savage sur- 
roundings of the forest wonderfully developed that fine 
manly form of his, strengthened and firmed his nerve and 
muscles and increased his energy, courage and vitality. 
No wonder that when he reached manhood he had no equal 
in agility and strength of body, and that in after years no 
amount of physical fatigue could force a murmur from his 
lips. His mind was also stimulated by the activities of 
his responsible position as well as by the many experiences 
that this life afforded him. He was trained to caution and 
daring in turn, and it was in those very qualities he excelled 
in the great undertakings in which he subsequently became 
engaged. The Eed Indians, often mortal enemies of the 
colonials, treacherous and cunning as they were by nature, 
were to be guarded against and watched. Their lurking 
places were everywhere around. The mighty oaks of the 
forest, caves, ravines, creeks and winding rivers were their 
favourite retreats. At this particular period many of those 
savages across the Alleghenny borders were in alliance with 
th^ir more northern brothers, who in turn were leagued 
with the French settlers. And of course in those colonizing 
days there was fierce rivalry for supremacy between the 
French and English. Caution and tact were indispensable 
qualifications for a surveyor in such dangerous surroundings. 

B 



18 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Alertness and daring were also necessary, not alone to meet 
the possible assaults of the savage, but to ward off the ever 
imminent attacks of the wild beasts of the forest. 

Undeterred by danger, our young hero pursued steadily 
the path where duty led him. During those years he 
learned much about the habits and customs and dispositions 
of the aborigines of the wilds. He studied them, not as 
an outsider from a distance, but like that famous Irishman, 
Sir William Johnson, who lived among them, and if 
Washington like him did not wear their savage dress and 
become their elected chief, he mixed in friendly intercourse 
with tliem, entered their wigwams, chatted with them and 
smoked the friendly pipe of peace with their leaders. 
Washington, like that other famous colonial, William Penn, 
sympathised with the Indians and was kind and conciliatory 
witli them. That it was not without reason the Indians 
were hostile and suspicious of the colonials, both French 
and English, we may see rendered pretty obvious in the 
remark of an old Delaware sachem addressing j\Ir. Girst, 
an English trader: "The French," he says, "claim all 
the land on one side of the Ohio, the English claim all the 
land on the other side — now where does the Indians land 
lie ?" Washington Irving appropriately adds : "Poor savages ! 
Between their Fathers the French and their Brothers the 
English, they were in a fair way of being most lovingly 
shared out of the whole country." Penn and \Vashington 
were nearer the Christian ideals of civilizing and colonizing 
the savages than the greedy nations who aimed at their 
extermination. They saw in the lied man a brother, with 
a human soul, and an intellect equal under culture to that 
of the white man. They knew what Christian teaching 
demanded towards those savage aborigines. After all, 
what are we who boast of our long line of civiliza- 
tion but some generations removed from savage fore- 
fathers who worshipped idols and sacrificed human 
beings to their gods? To-day even do not our most Chris- 



LIFE AS SURVEYOR. 



19 



tiaii nations oHer up to the idols of vanity, jealousy and 
greed of gold holocaust of thousands of brave soldiers? 
This kindly disposition then and intimate knowledge ac- 
quired in the forest were fruitful in advantages to Washing- 
ton in his military and political life in later years when 
treating with and legislating for the Indian tribes of the 

Piepublic. 

Another useful and advantageous experience he had 
during those years was his meeting and mixing with the 
pioneers of colonial life in their mountain and forest homes :^ 
The Green Mountain jnen, " those first European settlers," 
who trekked out West in the early colonizing days. They 
were a brave and fearless and industrious race, free from 
all control, acknowledging no law nor king. They were 
lords of the soil, which they were instrumental in colonizing, 
and like Crusoe, " monarchs of all they surveyed." They, 
with mattock and musket and spade, cleared the forest and 
built wooden huts in which they lived a rough but congenial 
life. The spirit of adventure was ever evident in the lives 
of these bushmen. Many a tale of daring and many an 
account of border raids did they narrate to young Washing- 
ton during his sojourn among them. They had to clear 
those extensive ranches of theirs, forging ahead over hill 
and valley, rooting out mighty oaks, firing the underwood 
and wild gi-ass, equipped with hatchet and billhook and 
never for a moment losing sight of gun and ammunition. 
A mutual regard sprang up between Washington and these 
brave men. He did not disdain to share their joys and 
sorrows, their games and sports, such as running, jumping, 
riding, shooting and throwing tlie hammer or iron bar, and 
he willingly partook of their rude hospitality and often shel- 
tered himself in their humble log-built cabins. This social 
intercourse with the Green mountain men and the admira- 
tion in which they held the future General in those days 
• did much in deciding the fortunes of the war of Indepen- 
dence at its most critical stage. It was Morian and Bumpter 



20 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

in the South who retrieved the fortunes of war in Georgia 
and the Carolinas when CornwaUis and Tarleton and 
Eawdon were carrying desolation over the States, routing 
Gates and harassing Greene's ragged, famishing continen- 
tals. It was these backwoodsmen, led by those brave men, 
who like eagles swooped down from the mountain and 
forest and spread desolation among the well-fed and for a 
time victorious British troops. Their descent was sudden 
and unexpected, their attack always decisive and mostly 
successful. They just as suddenly disappeared after the 
skirmish into their mountain homes. It was those same 
hardy pioneers who, in the Ohio and Mississippi districts, 
kept the Canadians and British at bay under the leadership 
of Boone and Kenton and the famous Colonel George Clarke. 

These years spent in parcelling out the lots on the estate 
of Lord Fairfax, marking the boundaries as they proceeded 
by burning and scorching the trees, supplied Washington 
with an experience which helped him afterwards to take 
in a countryside with a glance of his well-disciplined eye. 
He learned to approximate distances and heights. By 
glancing across the country he could tell at once the best 
location for camping or the best way by which to lead his 
forces. He could tell what positions iTiight safely be forti- 
fied and in what localities forage and water might easily be 
procured. The experience acquired at this time gave him 
an advantage that cannot be overrated. Have we not seen 
in our own times how a handful of rude farmers were able 
for a long time to bafHe, and harass, and often route, ten 
times their number because the British armies in South 
Africa were led by generals unused to mountain wilds and 
scroggy plains, but chiefly owing to ignorance of the geo- 
graphy of the territory which was the seat of warfare ? The 
camp life of those early days gave our predestined General 
a foretaste of the life of a soldier. He had to " rough it." 

Some extracts from his diary at this period will best 
demonstrate how trying was the ordeal he had to pass : 



FIRST MILITARY SERVICE. 21 

" This morning went out and surveyed five hundred 
acres of land. Shot tvi^o wild turkeys. Began our intended 
business of laymg of^ lots. A blowing, rainy day. Our 
straw upon which we were lying took fire, but I was luckily 
preserved by one of our men awakening when it was in a flame. 

" Next day our tent was blown down by the violence of 
the wind, and during the following night, owing to the 
smoke becoming intolerable, we were obliged to leave the 
tent to the mercy of the wind and fire." 

We may, it appears to us, safely assert in leaving these 
surveying experiences of our hero that his life at this time 
was admirably calculated to train and qualify him for the 
more arduous and responsible positions to which fortune and 
the unanimous voice of his countrymen called him in later 
years. 

CHAPTER III. 

First Military Service. 

Washington may be said to have made his first entry 
into the profession of arms when in 1751, at the age of 
nineteen, he was appointed by his native State to the im- 
portant position of Major over the militia in his locality. 
The Virginians, whose State bordered on the Alleghany 
range, and whose boundaries on the West were undefined 
at this time, had unlimited scope for expansion across the 
Ohio river, in what is now the State of Kentucky, then a 
tract claimed by the Virginians, with the support of Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland. This fertile and unknown region 
w^as mainly inhabited by wandering tribes of Indians, who 
were divided in their sympathies between the two European 
nations then striving for supremacy in North America. The 
French had gained their allegiance in great part in most of 
the localities stretching north of the present site of Pitts- 
burgh, at that time known as Fort Du Quesne after a 
French general of that name. Its present name recalls the 



22 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

days of a great English statesman. The territory around 
tlie lakes and the localities known as Chicago, Niagara, 
])etroit, at which places the French had forts, were un- 
disputed French territory. The territory drained by the 
Ohio and its tributaries across to the Mississij^pi was the sub- 
ject of contention between the French and English settlers 
and their respective home governments. When the treaty 
was signed at Aix la Chapelle, which brouglrt peace to the 
Powers of Europe, the American boundaries were undefined. 
Hence the delimitation of this Ohio district was an open 
question. The richness of the land, the fine water-power of 
the rivers and the increasing trade in furs as time advanced, 
gave more importance to this localit}- . The French claimed 
the West as far as Ohio river and its tributaries and down 
the iMississippi to Orleans from its being discovered by French 
missionaries. Padre Marquette and loliet, a Quebec trader, 
\a1io sailed in their canoe down the Mississippi as early as 
1673. Tlie English claimed it by treaty with the six nations 
signed at Lancaster in the year 1744. The French contended 
that the tribes were intoxicated with rum and bribed to sell 
what they had no claim upon. In this way matters stood 
when W^ashington was appointed to the military command 
as w'c have mentioned. 

The French, although their colonists were much fewer 
in this disputed territory, had man^/ advantages over the 
English. It was French missionaries who explored the 
lakes and the districts surroundinG: the Ohio. These early 
pioneers were kind to the Red tribes, and by presents and 
l;y preaching Christianity to them made many converts to 
Catholicity, and many of the chiefs had accepted the belt 
of i:>eixcc. And just as the Indian became attached to one 
nationality amon^- the white races, so thev became foes to 

t' O ■'1/ 

the others. In their hearts the Indians had little love for 
the Europeans, whom' they looked on as intruders amongst 
them. The French had forts built around the lakes and 
southward as far as Du Quesne, and from these fortresses 



FIRST MILITARY SERVICE. 23 

they were made aware of the movements of the English 
settlers, squatters and traders in the disputed territory. 
To secure their isokifed subjects against French and Indian 
aggressions and to protect the traders in those parts, it 
became a matter of necessity for the Virginian burgesses 
to take immediate action to defend the unprotected back- 
woodsmen across the Alleghany mountains and to repel 
the inroads of their Gallic competitors. For this purpose 
they divided the State into military districts and appointed 
a major over each, whose duty it was to recruit from among 
the settlers, drill and prepare for action a company of men 
fit for military service. In the appointment of Washington, 
at the age of nineteen years, to drill and command the militia 
of his native county, we see the beginning of his future 
military greatness. His suitability for so important a 
position must liave been very marked when he, a boy in 
years, was selected to be military leader of the manhood 
of his district. His character, though not fully developed, 
must have pointed him out as conspicuously qualified for 
the important charge. He was of a daring and romantic 
disposition. His inclinations were early directed towards a 
soldier's life. His family had an hereditary ambition for 
military glory. His brother and his brother's father-in-law 
had distinguished themselves in their country's service as 
officers in the army. During the past few years from his 
school days he lived and associated much with Lawrence 
and the Fairfaxes. Hence his young mind must have been 
accustomed to tales of daring and accounts of fame and 
renown gained in war by his friends and family connections. 
The stories of border life and encounters with Pied Indians 
by the early settlers tended to fire the mind of Washington 
with a desire for martial glory and spur him on to seek 
fame as a soldier in the noble cause of defending the lives 
and homes and property of neighbours and friends and 
fellow-colonials. 

In Upham's " Life," already referred to, we have the 



24 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

following remarks which seem to truthfully reflect the 
estimation in which the future Commander-in-Chief was 
held by his countrymen : 

The reason why Washington was selected from among 
young and old to lead the forces of his division was because 
he struck all beholders as a noble specimen of humanity as 
of a larger pattern than the ordinary mould of the race. 
It was not merely his personal appearance, but his whole 
manner — an harmonious combination of all the elements 
which contribute to awaken interest and impart authority 
which produced this effect. This indescribable and remark- 
able impression of his personal aspect and character became 
stronger and deeper the more he was known. It was con- 
firmed and renewed from day to day on the minds and 
hearts of those most intimate with him, and was at once 
felt and admired by strangers. It was a kind of mysterious 
charm which sustained him in difficult circumstances and 
proved the great element of his power and the secret of his 
success." 

A little after Washington had entered on the arduous 
duties of recruiting and drilling his rustic forces, he was 
called away to accompany his brother Lawrence to the Bar- 
badoes, the latter having set out there in a fruitless quest 
of health. Lawrence was far spent in consumption and 
thought that a change of air in those hot regions would be 
beneficial. His efforts to combat the disease were unavail- 
ing, and he died at an early age, leaving behind him a wife 
and only daughter, who also died when eighteen. Lawrence 
was much attached to our hero. He was a highly respected 
citizen, and for some years had been burgess in the Vir- 
ginian Council. He had considerable interest in the country 
both as a trader in Ohio and an estate-holder at hoine. 
He left George manager of Mount Vernon, and the future 
President afterwards succeeded to the property and lived 
on it wdien a private citizen. Here he died and here on 
the lovely Potomac he is interred in the family vault. 



FIRST MILITARY SERVICE. 25 

After the death of his brother, Washington, with the 
vigour and enthusiasm of youth, entered on his new duties 
as a soldier. He visited the several counties in his division, 
inspected the various corps, instructed the officers and ex- 
horted his subordinates to be most insistent on drill prac- 
tices and discipline, so that the soldiers might not prove 
inefficient in action. (I should here mention that he had 
himself suitably trained at his brother's residence. Mount 
Vernon, to undertake the position of drilling and disciplining 
recruits). There was much necessity at this particular 
time for a strong active body of militia to give protection to 
the scattered settlers and to guard the traders of the newly- 
formed Ohio Company from Indian and French aggression. 
The French w^ere fast hemming in the colonials from the 
East by two armies wdiich were marching from different 
points. One of these expeditions was descending from the 
Lakes and had already built forts in the Ohio and Missis- 
sippi districts. The other force was coming up the great 
river from New Orleans. The French organization was 
perfect. They had a chain of forts, sixty in number, running 
from the Gulf to the Lakes. In these forts they kept 
stores of food and ammunition and had them guarded more 
or less efficiently by French and Indian guards. Through 
these forts the Governor of Canada, whose headquarters 
were at Fort Detroit, was w^ell informed of the enemy's 
movements. There was grave danger under these circum- 
stances to the English interests across the Alleghany ranges. 
Into the relative rights and titles of these jealous nationali- 
ties to the disputed and unreclaimed territory we need not 
enter. Whether the fact that the French were the first 
explorers or that the English made the first treaty with the 
Bed men constitutes the valid claim, let the constitutional 
historian decide. That the French colonists were few and 
that the English were becoming numerous are undisputed 
facts. Hence, if the British colonials were to be protected 
it behoved the colonial authorities to bestir themselves. The 



26 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

English squatters were settling down year by year in these 
fertile districts, and as they were increasing in numbers 
so they were spreading out more westward, at much risk 
from Indian and French aggression and barbarity. It was 
to the interest of the English colonists that war should be 
proclaimed instanter against the French, since they insisted 
on building forts and posting soldiers in their neighbourhood. 
The first move in the direction of hostilities between 
these Powers contending for supremacy in North America 
was the despatch of a letter from the Governor of Virginia, 
Dinweddie, to the Governor-General of Canada. He com- 
missioned ^lajor Washington to proceed from Williams- 
burgh, the then capital of Virginia, to inform the French- 
man that if he did not dismantle his forts and withdraw his 
forces from the Ohio territory hostilities would immediately 
commence. Washington, having been duly commissioned 
and carrying with him Dinweddie 's letter, started on his 
mission on the oOth October, 1753, on the same day on 
mIucIi his commission was dated. He was accompanied by 
seven mounted companions, with baggage and provender 
for the journey, \\ hich was a long one of nearly six hundred 
miles. The season was the depth of winter, during much 
frost and snow and rain. His road lay through a pathless 
wilderness, over mountain and rivers and ravines and 
through forests, whose negotiation was only possible by 
following the trails of the Indians or the buffalo tracks 
The journey moreover was mainly through a hostile region 
in the hands of cruel Indians and hostile French troops. 
It was a momentous expedition, on which depended the 
lives and the possessions of the British colonists and the 
future progress and expansion of the States themselves. 

On this occasion Washington had with him an Indian inter- 
preter named John Davison, who knew the localities througli 
which the expedition should have to pass. He was also 
accompanied by a Dutchman named Jacob Vanbraam, who 
knew a smattering of French. 



FIRST MILITARY SERVICE. 27 

Washington and his party arrived at Will's Creek on the 
loth November, and here they met a wealthy settler named 
Gist, who joined them in the expedition. The next point 
of importance, eighty miles distant from the creek, at which 
they arrived after eleven days was ^lonoghahela. Rain 
fell in torrents during this part of the journey. The valleys 
and rivers owing to the excessive rains and snows were in- 
undated, and often they had to wade up to the waist in 
mud and water. It was a truly arduous and perilous ex- 
perience. There were sources of danger everywhere around 
our young ambassador by night and by day. The wild 
beasts of the forest, the wary and treacherous Indians, 
whose abodes were in those pathless forests, around those 
winding creeks and among the giant oaks, and against 
whose attacks he had constantly to be on the alert. 
• We cannot do better than treat our readers to another 
quotation from Upliam, who speaking in his " Life " of the 
diliiculties of this Embassy, says : "In treading their way 
through pathless and primeval forests, obstructions met 
tliem at every stage. Sometimes a mighty elm or pine or 
hemlock that had borne the storms of hundreds of years 
and fallen at last, its thundering crash resounding through 
the startled wilderness, would be found stretched directly 
across their line of travels. Sometimes the thick under- 
bush and entangling briers would absolutely forbid their 
progress ; a steep and lofty rock \\ould uplift its brow before 
them, a wild mountain torrent or a deep bog or an inacces- 
sible swamp or a precipitous range of hills would intercept 
their way. In such cases they would have to wind round 
and return for miles perhaps upon their track. At the close 
of a day, contending with obstacles like these, the weary 
and exhausted party Mould select some spot for their night 
encampment. After unloading and providing for their lug- 
gage and horses they would clear away the snow from 
the base of some tree or rock, kindle a fire with logs and 
branches and thus melt the snow around, whilst for a bed 



28 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

green boughs stretched on the ground sufficed for their wants. 
Above this they would spread their tent by stretching long 
poles into the ground in the form of a semicircle, open 
towards the fire, bringing their upper ends together at a 
point and covering them over with green boughs. After 
partaking of such refreshments as are commonly provided 
for such excursions, which were generally plain and coarse, 
and much relished withal by hungry men, having enjoj'Cd 
their repast the weary travellers arranged their watches for 
the night and stretched themselves with feet towards the 
fire, blankets over their heads and bodies, to rest for the 
night on their bough beds." 

This was a rare though beneficial experience for a young 
man ambitious of military laurels. It satisfied his mind, 
filled as it was with the idea of '' shining raost in fame 
by daring most in danger." The surroundings were rare 
and romantic. Few have the opportunity in their lives 
of drinking knowledge at so primitive and natural a source. 
The dreams of his boyhood were being realized in this ex- 
pedition with so many dangers to be faced, with its hair- 
breadth escapes from Eed men and wild beasts, from moun- 
tain torrent and swollen river, from snow and rain, and in 
the sweet contemplation of the renown to be his on the 
fulfilment of his arduous and responsible task. 

The youthful Washington and his party on this expedition 
suggest a subject on which the historic painter might 
lavish his greatest efforts, and which the writer of romance 
might delineate with his most glowing imagery. The 
central figure and hero of the episode was a youth of rare 
endowments of mind and body, noble in form, erect, and 
manly, and agile. Consider, too, that the eyes of two 
nations were upon him, that the answer to his mission 
meant war or peace. The lives of his border brothers were 
in the balance; England and France, and in fact Europe, 
waited in expectancy the issue. The question was in 
plain terms, who should become supreme in North America, 



FIRST MILITARY SERVICE. 29 

who was to be ruler of over two ixiillion square miles of 
territory ? 

We need not at this distance of time follow step by step 
our hero in his weary itinerar3^ The rivers he crossed are 
still running as they did a hundred and fifty years ago, 
still rushing on, winding about and leaping over cataracts 
and round the bases of lofty mountains, meandering through 
swampy meadows and sedgy grasses. All else is changed 
save those rivers deserted now by the savage men and 
beasts that once roamed their banks and denuded of the 
sheltering forests that were to them a refuge and a home. 

He passed through Fort Du Quesne, which was the outer 
fort of the French on the site of modern Pittsburg in the 
heart of Pennsylvania and Venago, an Indian village, in 
which the French troops had strongly encamped tliem- 
selves. On the way through these parts Washington, with 
the trained eye of a surveyor and with the quick intelli- 
gence now experienced in making observations, gained much 
valuable information concerning the strength of the 
enemy and their designs regarding the Virginian backwoods- 
men, etc., etc. On December the 11th, six weeks after his 
departure from Williamsburgh, he delivered his message to 
the Commander, Chevalier de St. Pierre, who, at French 
Creek, near the shores of Lake Erie, had subordinate com- 
mand of these parts in the French interests. He was 
courtieously received and hospitably entertained by this 
elderly and ceremonious officer, and after three days he 
departed with the desired message to the Virginian Governor. 
Whilst he delayed for a reply at the French quarters he 
had been neither deaf nor blind. He had noted the strength 
of the enemy's forts. He calculated the number of Indians 
and their sentiments regarding the rival nations. It was no 
insignificant part of his mission to inform himself about 
the dispositions of the Indian tribes, and it took no ordinary 
tact and diplomacy to alienate many of them from the 
French interests and make them take up the " speech belt" 



30 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

of the British. Washington, by disarming the animosity 
of many of the chiefs and gaining the allegiance of the 
half King of the Delawares through the powerful aid of 
John Gist, their white friend, did no mean service to his 
countiy. He ensured also that the trading of these tribes 
in furs would be carried on in the interests of the London- 
Ohio Company instead of as in the past with the Canadians. 

The homeward journey in the midst of winter was the 
most trying ordeal of the expedition. He was compelled 
to abandon his horses, take to his canoe, or wade often 
waist deep in mire. Once he was thro\\n into water ten 
feet deep and only escaped drowning by seizing a floating 
raft which landed him on a river island down the current. 
Here he lay unprotected, with garments soaked, the night 
frost congealing his clothing to the stiffness of a board. 
That he survived such an ordeal one must accept as power- 
ful evidence that Providence preserved him for better things. 
During the journey also he escaped a treacherous shot 
aimed at him from a distance of fifteen yards from an 
Indian ritle. This Indian was his guide in these i:)arts. An 
extract from the diary \^hich he wrote up from day to day 
will be instructive : 

" The whole expedition," he says, " has been extremely 
fatiguing, so much so that it is imj^ossible to conceive our 
trials. We had nothing but cold and rain and snow through- 
out the entire journey. Escapes from Indians' rifles and 
escapes from drowning." 

Washington Irving, at the end of his narrative of this 
expedition, has a most appropriate passage with which this 
chapter might fitly end : 

" The prudence, sagacity, resolution, firmness and self- 
devotion manifested by him throughout," says the his- 
torian, ** his admirable tact and self-possession in treating 
with fickle savages and crafty white men, the soldier's eye 
with which he had noticed the commanding and defensible 
points of the coimtry and everything that would bear upon 





>* t 5"" "i 'K' I 



COLUMBUS Dis"ro\-i:Rixr, America. 



WASHINGTON IN TEMPORARY COMMAND. 31 

military operations as well as his physical endurance and 
courage in danger .... all pointed him out, not 
merely to the governor, but to the public at large as one 
eminently fitted for important civil as well as military duties 
of trust. It is an expedition which may be considered the 
foundation of his fortunes. From that moment he was 
the rising hope of Virginia." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Washington in Temporaky Command. 

As a result of Washington's mission it was made patent, 
in the reply of the French Commander, that he had no 
authority to withdraw his forces from the disputed terri- 
tories. If any doubt on this point remained it was soon 
removed, for the activity of the French was visible from 
Lake Erie to New Orleans, up the Mississippi and down 
the Ohio, across to Du Quesue and the Alleghany ridges. 
Governor Dinweddie summoned the Virginian Congress- 
men to meet him at Williamsburgh, and at the same time 
wrote to the State I^egislatures of Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania asking for their co-operation in repelling the French 
and their savage allies from their borders. The mother 
country- \\as to be represented in two corps of regulars 
ordered down from New York. The command of the united 
forces, regulars and militia, was to be given to Colonel 
Frye, Washington being appointed second in command 
with rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. 

With the united forces of Virginia he set out to Wills 
Creek to wait the arrival of Frye. The latter died how- 
ever on his way, and the supreme command temporarily 
devolved on Washington. W^heii encamped at the Great 
Meadows he learned from scouts of the existence of small 
detachments of French soldiers under Colonel Jumonville. 
This was Washington's first encounter in actual warfare, 



32 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

and in it he was most successful. He slew ten of the 
enemy, one of them the leader, and captured over twenty 
whom he sent as prisoners of war to the Virginian capital. 
This brush might be considered the first actual open hostili- 
ties in these parts between the French and English. It 
was looked upon by many French writers of military affairs 
in later years as murder and not actual warfare, on the 
ground that the French were bearing messages for a treaty 
to the English Commander, but Washington strongly con- 
tended that the captured and defeated corps were spies and 
that had they not been thwarted they would have been 
instrumental in bringing about the destruction of the 
English garrison. Letters found on the dead French Com- 
mander confirmed the suspicions of Colonel Washington. 

This affair sounded the tocsin for a war which had been 
brewing for many years, a war spurred on by racial hate, by 
religious animosity, and by the ambition of the two Powers 
for supremacy. The result of the Seven Years' War, end- 
ing with the capture of Quebec and Montreal, was to put 
an end for ever to French rights of sovereignty on American 
territory. After this skirmish Washington entrenched 
himself in a fort which he aptly called " Fort Necessity " 
in the plains to which also he gave the name " The Great 
Meadows," and from this place he despatched forces to 
engage with the approaching enemy. It soon became evi- 
dent that his adversaries, more numerous, better equipped, 
and nearer their base of supplies, would eventually over- 
power his less efficient militia. He held out however for 
a time against great odds, and gained such conditions 
for his forces on capitulation that his yielding was on the 
most honourable terms. His soldiers were allowed to 
return to Virginia with all the honours of war, with flags 
flying, drums beating and all their military stores except 
the artillery which, by the terms of surrender, was to be 
destroyed. The captured French were to be released, and 
no hostile acts on his most Christian Majesty's lands should 



WASHINGTON IK TEMl*OilAUY COMMAND, 33 

be attempted for a space of a year. Washington himself 
was welcomed home more like a hero than a vanquished 
commander. The State of Virginia voted him a message 
of thanks for his bravery and courage under most difficult 
circumstances, and above all he earned the enduring affec- 
tion of his comrades in arms. 

Our narrative so far, it may be remarked, has had none of 
those marvellously brilliant chapters which abound in clas- 
sical military history, nor shall we be able to record of 
Washington later in his long and arduous campaign as 
Commander-in-Chief any brilliant victories, such as Caesar 
or Napoleon, Nelson or Wolfe achieved. We saw him as 
envoy returning from the Canadian borders more like a 
famished and hunted fugitive, clothed in Indian skins, with 
bleeding feet and emaciated frame. Again, after his fruit- 
less encounter with the enemy at Du Quesne, he returns a 
fugitive, if not a prisoner. Such was his life throughout. 
He never, during the -^'hole of his long military career, had 
the good fortune to meet with even one opportunity for 
displaying that military genius which so dazzles the mind 
of men and enhances the glory of mortal heroes. It is 
doubtful indeed if his military talent laj^ at all in the direc- 
tion of such prodigies. But it was of the essence of his 
peculiar genius to find victory in seeming defeat. He was 
never demoralized by a reverse, and from the adverse experi- 
ence of to-day he learned how victory might be his on 
the morrow. 

The two regiments of British regulars, which were to 
have been led by Yvye, arrived on the 20th Febniary, 1755, 
in Virginia, and were now to be commanded by General 
Braddock, who had been placed in command of all the 
Continental and British forces operating across the Allegh- 
anies. As soon as Braddock arrived in Virginia he anxiously 
enquired for Washington. Not alone had the latter 's fame 
already spread over the States, but owing to the favourable 
despatches of the Governors and the publication in London 
c 



31 LIFE OF WASHIKGTOS. 

of the journal kept by hiin during' his expedition to Lake 
Erie, containing as it did invaluable information about a 
territory little known in England, about the relative strength 
of the French and English, and the disposition of the Indians 
across the borders, he had become favourably known at 
Westminster. Since the disaster at the Great Meadows 
he had resigned his commission. Pie saw little hope for a 
colonial soldier rising to fame in these wars, seeing that 
officers of same rank among the regulars took precedence 
of the militia officers, and he saw little chance of effectually 
aiding his countrymen as a subordinate under supercilious 
and punctilious English officers. Perhaps the immediate 
cause of his resignation was a difference with the headstrong 
Governor Dinweddie, who refused to release the French 
prisoners according to the terms of surrender at Fort Neces- 
sity. Braddock knew the work of Washington, and after 
some opposition from his mother, which proved ineffectual, 
he consented to again enter the service : this time however 
as one of the General's four aides de camp. Although a 
born soldier he was without the knowledge, in the military 
profession, which alone can be acquired by serving under a 
trained and experienced general. That Braddock was ill 
adapted with all his theoretical knowledge of military tactics 
to cope with the Indian lurking in his rugged mountain 
passes the sequel to this expedition will reveal. Yet he 
was capable of teaching the rules and discipline of the 
orthodox art of war, and this side of military knowledge 
and experience Washington was desirous of learning, 
because his passion for military life was strong. Although 
young in years, he was considered old enough in wisdom 
and experience to be admitted into the counsels of the 
governors of the five States affected by the border war 
and the generals and other commanders who met at Alex- 
andria to consult and deliberate on the best ways and means 
to be adopted to successfully repel the enemy and confine 
him to his Canadian territory, and he was by far the most 



WASHINGTON IN TEMPORARY COMMAND. 35 

remarkable personage in this council of war. Although 
Braddock arrived in Virginia in the beginning of 1755, wo 
still in the month of June find him some days' journey 
from the French headquarters at Du Quesne. He carried 
too much baggage, had too much felling of timber and 
cutting of roads to allow his brilliant array of trained 
veterans, over two thousand strong, to pass along with their 
waggons and artillery. Washington, however, prevailed so 
far over old cut-and-dry military tactics with Braddock as 
to induce him to expedite his journey by leaving the waggons 
behind, proceeding with scouts and reconnoitreing parties 
in advance. Whilst Braddock 's forces were marching on 
the French, Washington was seized with a violent fever, 
and after some days was most reluctantly compelled under 
medical advice to delay on his journey for a time. The 
jolting of the pack cart, in wdiich he was confined, would, it 
seemed, have proved fatal. Before he broke his journey 
under advice of his friends. Dr. Craik and Dr. Mercer, of 
whom we shall hear more in connection with the life of our 
hero, he prayed his general not to engage the enemy until 
he might be sufficiently recovered to rejoin. The fever did 
very soon sufficiently abate — thanks to Dr. James' medicine 
as Washington surmised — to allow him to hasten in pursuit, 
and on the 8th July he came in touch with the main body 
at Monougahela, fifteen miles distance from Fort Du 
Quesne. 

On the morning of the 9th Braddock j)ut his army in 
iTiotion. They were arranged in the following order: — A 
body of three hundred men under Colonel Gage, of Bunker 
Hill fame, was in front. Immediately after them came 
another company of two hundred. The General himself, 
with the artillery, occupied the centre, while the main body 
with the baggage brought up the rere. It was the hope of 
Braddock to overhaul the French at sunset. " It was," 
says an eye-witness, " a lovely sight to see on this bright 
July morniDg, so magnificent a body of men, high in hopes, 



36 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

that before the sun should sink beneath the hills and forests 
from which they had just emerged, they should have achieved 
fame in defeating the foe. The prancing steeds and richly- 
decorated riders, gleaming literally in the dazzling sun, with 
scarlet and gold, and the inspiring roll of music played to 
martial airs, echoing from hill to hill and resounding along 
the valleys, was something rare in such a wilderness and 
was calculated to arouse the highest hopes in the minds of 
all." 

Ail the circumstances were most encouraging — a fit and 
fearless and proud army was led by Braddock, who was 
only second in public estimation to the Duke of Cumber- 
land himself — as they gaily marched along with drums 
beating, colours flying proudly, flapping and glistening in the 
sultry sun and fanning breeze. Their bugles sounding 
defiance to the foe, all hearts were cheered with jubilation. 
Washington, jubilant and well pleased with the grand dis- 
play, whispered, as he stood by the side of his chief, a 
word of warning in his ears. He admonished him that his 
tactics were not prudent, that the treacherous woods and 
winding creeks in those unknown parts demanded pre- 
caution that might be neglected in the open couritr}^ There 
the enemy might be lurking behind oaks or cliffs or in 
deep ravines or overhead in the cliffs, waiting to spring 
upon them like tigers on their prey and decimate them from 
their secure cover. The confident old commander, ho^vever, 
trusting to his own knowledge and the rules of war and what 
he considered the excellent disposition of his forces, heeded 
not the warning of the youth. Well would it have been 
had he listened to our hero's warning, to employ Indian 
scouts to reconnoitre the passes on both sides in front of 
the advancing column and lead his men with due precaution 
in single file. If he had done so such a rout as that which 
followed would never have taken place. Just about mid- 
day, however, on this lovely 9th of July, a sharp and sudden 
firinjr of shots is heard from everv direction overhead. 



WASHINGTON IN TEMPORARY COMMAND. 37 

Almost before the disaster was realized the wild men of the 
woods were mowing down the splendid army in every direc- 
tion. At the first attaek of the invisible foe the troops came 
at a stand-still, then fell into confusion, and finally stam- 
peded. They saw companions falling by their side and 
no foe whom they might attack. They saw their brave 
General and. fearless officers in wild fury, ordering and 
counter-ordering, the merciless fusillade continuing the while 
from cliff and ravine, bushwood and behind the mountain 
oak. The rank and file at last became uncontrollable and 
the retreat was hurried and general. The main force, 
chiefly composed of regulars, did not halt, although unpur- 
Bued by the invisible foe — so terrified were they, by the start- 
ling suddenness of the encounter and by the yelling of the 
Indians — until they were fifty miles from Du Quesne. The 
flight of the tinselled dragoons caused Franldin to exclaim : 
" That it was the most extraordinary victory ever obtained 
and the farthest flight ever made, and goes to show that 
our extolled ideas of the powers of the British regulars had 
not been well founded." 

Braddock and twenty-six officers were slain. Thirty 
officers were wounded, seven hundred out of the three 
thousand of the rank and file of Braddock 's army were 
slain and many prisoners were captured. All the artillery 
were abandoned. Washington was loud in praise of the 
bravery of the General and his officers, but the men under 
him all — except the Virginians — acted in a most cowardly 
manner. 

Colonel Orme, one of the surviving aides-de-camp, thus 
describes the scene in a letter to the Governor of Pennsyl- 
vania : " The men were so extremely deaf to the exhorta- 
tions of the General and his officers that they fired away 
in the most irregular manner all their ammunition and then 
fled and could not be rallied until they reached Colonel 
Dunbar's army, six miles in the rear. The officers, in 
attempting to rally them, were sacrificed. The General 



38 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

had five horses shot under him and finally succumbed to a 
bullet which entered his lung. Washington," he adds, 
"fought like a tiger regardless of danger." Many years 
after an old Indian chief related how he and his braves in 
this encounter directed their rifles at him, but after aiming 
ineffectually for some time ceased firing on one whom they 
considered the Great Spirit specially protected from their 
bullets. He had two horses shot under him and four bullets 
passed through his garments, yet he never received a wound. 
A story is told by an eye-witness which shows his reckless 
daring and extraordinary strength of body. It is said that 
in the excitement, although scarcely recovered from the 
fever, he turned the brass cannon on the enemy, after the 
gunners had fled, dragging it along himself with one hand 
and lighting the fuse with the other, and by his exertions 
ploughing the ground as with a coulter. After this engage- 
ment Washington retired in disgust from military service 
and settled down on his farm at Mount Vernon. He felt 
keenly the slaughter of his brave Virginians, of whom only 
forty returned with him to camp. 

Washington, speaking of the English regulars, says oi 
them that they ran as sheep before dogs, and it was im- 
possible to rally them, and what made the defeat the more 
remarkable was the fact, that they were defeated by il 
force of Indians and French probably less than one to six. 

The ill-fated Braddock lingered three days after his mortal 
wound and was buried where he died at Great Meadows, 
where Washington was a year before surrounded and cap- 
tured. In the absence of the chaplain, who was wounded, 
Washington read the funeral service, and in silence and 
gloom was laid to rest this most unfortunate commander. 
The Virginian Congress welcomed and honoured their brave 
young officer and the few men that remained of their deci- 
mated Virginian militia. Three hundred pounds was 
awarded Washington as an honorary reward for his services 
to the State. 



HIS FINAL COLONIAL SERVICE. 39 

Washington, writing to his brother, speaks thus of the 
disaster: "As I have heard since my arrival at this plac^ 
a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech, 1 
take this opportunity of contradicting the first and assuring 
you that I have not composed the latter. But by the all- 
powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected 
beyond all human expectation : for I had four bullets through 
my coat and two horses shot under me and I escaped, 
though death was levelling my companions on every side 
of me.. We have been most scandalously beaten, but I 
will give you details when I arrive at Mount Vernon." 

It is a remarkable fact that, although disaster and con- 
sternation followed this campaign, Washington, in the midst 
of the general gloom caused by the check to the advances 
of the British arms, rose in public estimation, and that when 
blame was falling all around him nothing but approbation 
was heard of his courage and daring. British officers were 
compelled to acknowledge with enthusiasm his heroism and 
his romantic, chivalrous valour. Well might his native 
Virginia welcome him back safe to his beloved Mount 
Vernon and his mother, and no wonder that congratulations 
at his deliverance from the valley of death were numerous 
and sincere. 

The Eev. Mr. Davis thus prophetically spoke of his 
deliverance : "I may mention that heroic youth, Colonel 
Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has pre- 
served for some important service to his country." 



CHAPTER V. 

His Final Colonial Service. 

The disturbed state of the border territories, with the Red 
Indians and the French in alliance, constantly harassing and 
annoying the colonials, did not long allow Washington to 
enjoy his retirement from active service. It was plainly 



40 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

evident that the tactics of a regular well-equipped and 
drilled army were unavailing in such surroundings. A well- 
manned militia force, it was contended, would be more 
effective. An army trained to rough border life, familiar 
with the defiles and passes and not wholly ignorant of the 
habits and pursuits of the enemy opposed to them, was 
urgently needed to protect the isolated colonists from 
plunder and murder. It was. now a matter of supreme 
importance for the States affected to unite and co-operate in 
self-defence. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Carolina and 
Georgia as well as Virginia were involved in this border 
war. It may safely be asserted that had not the colonial 
internecine dispute been settled prior to the years when 
England attempted to tyrannize over and tax the States, the 
Declaration of Independence would have been proclaimed in 
vain and the forces necessary to repel the British arms 
would have been wasted in preserving peace on the borders 
and defending themselves against their French neighbours. 
Little did England think when aiding the States, to con- 
fine the French mainly across the St. Lawrence, she was 
training her own subjects in military tactics, uniting them 
by the bond of a common object, inspiring them with pride 
in their own prowess, and, as in the case of Braddock's 
defeat, a contempt for the pompous display of paid soldiers 
of fortune and veterans unskilled in the rough and rugged 
methods of colonial campaigning. Hence what was seem- 
ingly a duty of self-preservation, and a duty in the interests 
of England and carried out under English Governors briefed 
from London, was at the same time a necessary preliminary 
to the future success of their efforts for complete indepen- 
dence from foreign control. Washington was accordingly 
recalled from retirement once more to be placed in charge 
of the forces now about to be augmented to two thouasnd 
able-bodied men for defensive duties on the frontiers. Just 
prior to his appointment he received a letter from his mother 
urging him, as was her wont, not again to engage in military 



Ills FINAL COLONIAL SERVICE. 41 

service. His reply is worthy of reproduction here. He 
says : 

** Honoured Madam, — If it is in my power to avoid 
going to the Ohio again I shall; but if the command is 
pressed upon me by the general voice of the country and 
offered on such terms as cannot be refused, it would reflect 
dishonour on me not to comply, and that I am sure must and 
ought to give you greater uneasiness than my going in 
an honourable command. Upon no other terms will 1 
accept." The Virginian Government were liberal in their 
terms with Washington in this appointment. They voted 
£40,000 for the purpose and placed the entire guidance ol 
the forces to be raised in his hands. The territory to be 
protected extended along a frontier line a few hundred miles 
long, and this entire extent of territory demanded the divi- 
sion of his forces and their location at suitable points along 
the frontier. It was truly a difficult task to drill, equip, 
command, and distribute such an inefficient force over so 
extensive an area. It was a levy of raw recruits, unused to 
discipline and subordination. Many were leaving, from time 
to time deserting, and owing to the monotony of life on 
those dangerous frontiers few were really in love with the 
service. There was no visible foe to ward off. The invisible 
foe often proves the hardest to conquer. There was no 
marching and counter-marching demanded by the situation. 
The enemy might at any moment, by night or by day, swoop 
down from their mountain fortress, or their wooded seclu- 
sion and harass the planters around them, create a panic 
in the district, burn their huts, murder their defenceless 
families, and, like the wild beast carrying back its plunder 
to its lair, swoop off with their property with lightning speed 
to their secluded villages. 

It was the duty of Washington, with his scattered forces, 
to checkmate those marauders and protect the lives and 
property of the settlers. In this thankless and almost im- 
possible task he was constantly distressed and ill at ease. 



42 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

The squatters with all his vigilance were being harassed. 
Fugitives were constantly flocking to his camp from the sur- 
rounding districts. The danger was ever imminent as the 
invisible enemy was never far away. His army was badly 
paid, badly fed and poorly clad. To add to these difficul- 
ties he had secret enemies plotting against him in Congress, 
and even the Governor was not friendly disposed. Din- 
weddie was outvoted in having a friend of his placed in the 
command to which Washington was called. There were 
provincial jealousies regarding priority of command as well 
as disposition of the forces : an array of difficulties by the 
way that stared him in the face during the entire Eevolu- 
tion campaign. To have his status recognized and the 
matters in dispute righted he w^as compelled to set off to 
Boston, where General Shirley, the Commander-in-Chief 
of the entire forces was stationed. Just as at a later date 
the intriguing faction became unbearable, and as Din- 
w^eddie was only too eager to listen to the plotters, against 
him, he was on the point of resigning the thankless task 
assigned him when a most urgent and unanimous chorus of 
public opinion from all quarters urged him on public and 
patriotic grounds to continue at his post. Colonel Fairfax 
wrote him : * * Your endeavours in the cause of your country 
must redound to your honour. Your name is toasted at 
every table." Carter, another friend, wrote him: " How 
grieved w^e are to hear that you contemplate retiring from 
the service of your country. No, sir, rather let Braddock's 
bed be your own than anything that might discolour those 
laurels w^hich I promise myself are kept in store for you." 

The Speaker of the Virginian Burgess wrote him : * ' Our 
hopes, dear George, are fixed on you to bring our affairs to a 
happy issue." And even Dinweddie, w^ho, it would seem, 
was out of touch with the House over which he ruled, said 
of him: " That he is a person much beloved and has gone 
through much hardships in the service. None can raise 
more soldiers than he." Washington's constant exhorta- 



HIS FINAL COLONIAL SERVICE. 43 

tion to Congress and to his conntry was that a defensive 
pohey was unavailing to protect the colonists. A renewed 
attack must needs be made to capture Fort Du Quesne and 
expel the French and their allies from the Ohio valley. The 
great Chatham was for a similar bold policy, and some time 
later he carried it through with success. 

There is no doubt that the guarding of so vast a territory 
with a handful of isolated corps was a splendid training for 
the future Commander-in-Chief, a training that fitted him 
to defend the entire continent. His repeated difficulties 
with the authorities about the adoption of aggressive tactics 
and the increase and better equipment of the army were 
merely a minor prelude to the same class of troubles arising 
under other circumstances from similar causes during the 
momentous war for Independence. The weary waiting and 
guarding in this quasi guerilla warfare broke down his 
strong constitution and again fever attacked him, and for 
a time he was compelled to keep a sick bed at Mount 
Vernon. There for four months he lay, bordering, as he 
himself wrote, on " the brink of dissolution." To a friend 
at this time he says : * * I have been reduced to great ex- 
tremity and have now much reason to fear that I am 
approaching decay." A similar weary, ineffectual watch- 
ing before Quebec some years later brought upon the im- 
mortal Wolfe a like malignant fever that threatened his 
life. Whilst on a visit to Williamsburgh, to consult an 
eminent doctor, he learned of the change of Ministry in 
England, and when he was informed that Pitt was Prime 
Minister his old anxiety seized him to join his troops. The 
tactics of the late Ministry had lowered the prestige of Eng- 
land by sea and land. Defeat and disaster followed each 
other, not alone in the American wars, but in Europe and 
at sea. The old enemy, the Bourbons, seemed to be 
everywhere victorious. Pitt was an able statesman, and 
his views about the conduct of the Intercolonial wars coin- 
cided with what Washington had for some time in vain 



44 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

advocated, his opinion being that a forward aggressive course 
was the only effective policy. By such action the Indians 
would be held back from supporting their ancient allies, 
the French, the colonials would be encouraged to co-operate 
in greater force, and would feel proud of their motherland. 
In fact Pitt's poHcy, to rehabilitate the lost prestige of 
England, was to dazzle and astonish by a daring and bold 
campaign, attacking the enemy by sea and land with all 
the forces he could command at different points, which 
policy, as events showed, proved him to be the greatest 
statesman of his age, the first Commoner of his nation. 
Washington accordingly, as soon as he was sufficiently re- 
covered, resumed his command. 

To carry out the designs of the Home Secretary a large 
fleet was sent across the sea to conquer the French and 
drive them from America. Some 50,000 men and the 
bravest and most daring generals in the army of Eng- 
land were sent to lead them. It is matter of common his- 
torical knowledge how the brave Wolfe and Montgomery of 
Bevolution fame and Amhurst drove the French colonists 
and army from Arcadia, now Nova Scotia, hov/ they cap- 
tured Louisburgh at the mouth of the St. Lawrence and 
took possession of Crown Point and Ticonderoga in New 
York State, how the forts on the site of the present Niagara, 
Detroit, Kingston and Lough Erie fell in quick succession 
on the approach of the English and colonial arms, and 
finally how Quebec and later Montreal yielded up the keys 
of their citadels. It would seem as if Pitt possessed the 
magic of infusing into his officers and men the patriotism 
and courage that bvirned in his own rugged and ambitious 
bosom. As Lord Macaulay says: *' He gave his own in- 
spiration of patriotism to the nation and to every soldier who 
shouldered a musket and to every General who led a corps." 
So that he was able to command the wealth of a vast nation 
and the valiant soldiers of a brave people in every attempt 
be made fo increase the power and prestige of his country. 



HIS FINAL COLONIAL SERVICE. 45 

and to accordingly make flourish bj^ war in every direction 
the commerce of the nation. We are not concerned here 
with the Northern armies above referred to, since Washing- 
ton was fighting in the districts on the Ohio, whose forces 
had Du Quesne for their objective. The force set apart 
for this part of the campaign was 6,000, made up of regulars 
and colonial militia under the command of General Forbes. 
Washington held an appointment under this Commander as 
Colonel of the Virginians. The prospect this expedition 
held out to Washington was what he longed for. He had 
achieved flie object he so long desired and so long advocated. 
Soon he was to pass through scenes which would remain 
memorable to him. He was again to see Fort Necessity, 
which he himself built and where he, hard pressed by forces 
superior to his in numbers, had surrendered. He was to 
march in the track of Braddock to Monoughahela, where 
that unlucky General lost his Hfc and army. He would 
review again the scenes of his first public service as Am- 
bassador to French Creek, and he would now see the end 
of many years' strife brought about by his united effort 
of all the available forces, and an effort destined to result in 
the capture of the last citadel of the enemy. The sequel 
of this Southern expedition is soon told. Although the 
English General was painfully slow in his marches — and 
slowness with English officers does not alwaj^s mean caution, 
as we saw in Braddock 's case — and although the army was 
as formerly hampered with too much baggage and too much 
levelling of roads and repairing of bridges, yet their work 
was made easy by the enemy themselves. The Canadian 
forces were all engaged in protecting the forts and fighting 
the foe across the borders, and consequently the Du Quesne 
forces, unprepared for so formidable a force as Forbes was 
leading and being ill provided with stores for a protracted 
siege and situated as they were at too great a distance from 
Detroit, the base of supplies, deemed it wiser to burn the 
fort and decamp in canoes and boats up the Ohio. Thus 



46 LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 

was ended, until Eevolution times, Indian and French- 
Canadian opposition to the colonials in this district. 

Washington, now that he saw the end of trouble to the 
backwoods men, had no desire to serve longer as a soldier, 
and after the return of his forces to Virginia he bade adieu 
to !he army, and for seventeen years lived privately at his 
lovely home on the banks of the Potomac. On the occasion 
of his resignation of the commission of Commander of the 
Virginian forces in December, 1758, at the age of twenty- 
six, after a military life of six years, he was presented with 
an address by his officers. This document, coming from a 
body of men who knew him for all those years of their 
service in the cause for which they took up arms, speaks 
more eloquently than any words of ours, and will be most 
appropriate in this place. The exact words of the address 
were as follows : 

Sir — We, your most obedient and affectionate officers, 
beg leave to express to you our great concern at the dis- 
agreeable news we have received of your determination to 
resign the command of that corps in which we have under 
you long served. 

" The happiness we have enjoyed and the honour we 
have acquired, together with the mutual regard that has 
always subsisted between you and your officers, have im- 
planted so sensible an affection in the minds of us all that 
we cannot be silent on this critical occasion. In our earliest 
infancy you took us under your tuition, trained us up in 
the practice of that discipline which alone can contribute 
good troops, from the punctual observance of which you 
never suffered the least deviation. 

" Your steady adhesion to justice, your quick discern- 
ment and invariable regard to merit, wisely intended to 
inculcate those genuine sentiments of true honour and pas- 
sion for glory from which the greatest military achievements 
have been derived, first heightened our natural emulation 
and our desh-e to excel. With what alacritv we have 



UIS FINAL COLONIAL SERVICE. 47 

hitherto discharged our duty, with what cheerfulness we 
have encountered the severest toils, we submit to yourself 
and flatter ourselves that we have in a great measure 
answered your expectations. 

Judge, then, how sensibly we must be affected with 
the loss of such an excellent Commander, such a sincere 
friend and so affable a companion. How rare it is to find 
those amiable qualities blended together in one man. How 
great is the loss of such a man ? Without your guidance we 
may bid adieu to that superioriiy at strict discipline and 
that happy union and harmony in which we are known to 
excel. 

" Om' country also will lose as well as your ofhcers. 
Where will it be that we shall meet a man so excellent 
in military affairs and one so renowned for patriotic con- 
duct and courage? Who knows so well the enemy, their 
courage, their strength, and who so beloved by his soldiers 
who so able to hold on a high plane the military character of 

Virginia In you we place the most implicit 

confidence. Only can our cause in arms prosper under a 
man like you that we know and love. 

"If the exigencies of your private concerns compel you 
to leave us, point out one to lead us in whom we may trust 
and whose principles are above reproach. 

" Frankness and sincerity are the true characteristics of 
an officer, and we trust you won't accuse us of flattery, for 
we have hitherto considered you the actuating soul of our 
corps, and we shall ever pay the most invariable regard 
to your good will and pleasure, and shall be ever ready to 
show by our acts how much we respect and esteem you." 

These words afford a most extraordinary public mark of 
esteem, and we make no apology for their insertion here in 
full. And we cannot better conclude this chapter than by 
giving an extract from that most erudite and minute life of 
Washington, written by America's greatest Chief Justice : 

" Tlie high opinion formed of him," says Marshall, " was 



48 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

not confined to the officers of his regiment. It was common 
to Virginia and has been adopted by the British officers 
who served with him. The duties he performed, though 
not splendid, were arduous, and were executed with zeal and 
judgment. The exact discij^line he established in his regi- 
ment when the temper of Virginia was extremely hostile 
to discipline does credit to his military character and the 
gallantry displayed by his troops under him when called into 
active service manifests the spirit infused into them by their 
Commander. The difficulties of his situation while unable 
to cover the frontier from French and Indians, who were 
spreading death and desolation in every direction, were in- 
calculably great, and no better evidence of his exertions 
under such distressing circumstances can be given than the 
unanimous confidence still placed in him by those whom he 
was unable to protect." 

We may add here that soon after his resignation of Com- 
mand and before he settled down to private life at Mount 
Vernon, he wedded a widow named Mrs. Custas. She was 
a rich and accomplished lady, had two children to her 
husband who died three years previously. The administra- 
tion of the estates of Mrs. Custas and her children, amount- 
ing in value to about £45,000, devolved upon Washington. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Farmer and Congressman. 

After the capture of Du Quesne or Fort Pitt, so named in 
honour of the great Chatham, Washington, as we have 
already indicated, retired from the arena of military war- 
fare and for seventeen years lived on his estate at his rural 
residence on the Potomac river. During those years Pro- 
vidence seemed to be preparing him for mighty achieve- 
ments. As a farmer and private citizen his education and 
experience had time to mature, whilst as a public repre- 



FARMER AND CONGRESSMAN. 49 

sentative of Fairfax County in Congress at Williamsburgh, 
to which honour he was elected without his seeking at 
the end of his military service, his talents for legislation and 
government were perfected. Hence when the needs of his 
country demanded the experienced law-giver and statesman, 
he was not found deficient. It is a question whether the 
task of leading armies to victory was a more arduous and 
difficult one than that of steering the ship of State to unity 
and strength and power and respect among the nations after 
the treaty of Independence was ratified. For this momen- 
tous undertaking Washington would seem to have been un- 
known to himself in training during the seventeen years 
spent in apparent retirement. We do not wish to fall into 
that error of excess attributed by Lord Macaulay to the 
Rev. Mr. Thackeray in his life of Chatham. " Mr. 
Thackeray," says the essayist, " is not satisfied with forcing 
us to confess that Pitt was a great orator, a rigorous 
Minister, an honourable and high-spirited gentleman. He 
will have us believe that all virtues and all accomplishments 
met in his hero. In spite of God, men and calumnies, Pitt 
must be a poet, a poet capable of producing a heroic poem 
of the first order. Had he remained in the army he would 
have been a great general. In fine he was always right, an 
example of moral excellence, the just man made perfect." 
We do not attribute, during those years of peaceful seclu- 
sion at Mount Vernon, to Washington any extraordinary 
feats that might tend to dazzle and bewilder future genera- 
tions. We find him devoted to his wife and his domestic 
affairs. We know that he conscientiously discharged the 
public trust of Burgess of his district. We know that he 
was never idle, that he had not a minute that he could 
call his own between public and private cares and his social 
and recreative occupations. He was a stranger to in- 
dolence. Idleness and greatness are incompatible. We 
attribute to Washington the virtue which is the mark of all 
great m$n, namely, that of doing ordinary things extra- 
D 



50 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

ordinarily well. We will not place him exactly in the 
category of those pagan heroes, Pericles or Caesar, whose 
rise to great fame and power do not bear to be judged by 
Christian standards. Pericles, the pagan soldier, orator, 
statesman and sage, though of aristocratic birth, courted 
not alone the favour of the gods, but also bent the knee 
to the popular acclaim of a grade that he when in power held 
in subjection with firmness — the democracy. Caesar was by no 
means loyal to Pompey under whom he at first became 
famous in Gaul. He led against him his victorious arms, 
dethroned him from leadership and placed himself on the 
pedestal from which Pompey was thrown down. Nor did 
the Great Alexander spare the reputation of his illustrious 
father, Philip, when the shadow of the latter 's great name 
stood in his ambitious course. Napoleon raised himself to 
power by spurning the nobilit}^ and courting the favour oi 
the populace. Nor was he sparing more than Caesar when 
a rival stood in his way. With these great men it would 
seem that the end always justified the means. It was not 
so with W'ashington, no matter how hard the ordeal or how 
great the odds arrayed against him; he never once 
deviated from the course that justice and right pointed to 
him. And if we read between the lines, taking his after- 
life achievements as our text, we can discern how well 
founded his formative years must have been in all those 
characteristics that made him renowned as a soldier, states- 
man and model citizen. When Washington sought rest 
and peace from public worries he was in much need ot 
time and care to recoup his shattered constitution. We 
saw how, on more than one occasion, he was, by fever and 
fatigue, brought to the verge of death. The effects of those 
years were still pursuing him. As late as 1761 he wrote to 
a friend : "I have to all appearance been near my last 
breath. My indisposition increased upon me and I felt 
in a very low and dangerous state. I once thought the 
Great King would certainly master my eftorts, and that I 



FARMER AND CONGRESSMAN. 61 

must sink in spite of a resolute struggle ; but, thank God, I 
have got the best of the encounter and shall soon be restored 
I hope to perfect health once more." Washington, now 
that he was free to follow^ the bent of his own disposition, 
gave much of his leisure moments to reading. By this 
means he acquired a wider range of views of men and of 
nations. He mixed much, as far as custom and oppor- 
tunity would permit, in society, both at home and in 
Williamsburgh and Annanopolis. This helped to draw out 
the gentlemanly side of his character and to refine and 
perfect his moral and intellectual faculties. These years 
were the happiest of his life. His affection for his wife 
and her son and daughter and his home and the social 
charms of such pleasing surroundings clung to him ever 
after, so that when he stood " weary and ill at ease " on 
the highland camping ground, almost unfriended, the long- 
ing desire never left him to soon return, after his work was 
accomplished, to his lovely mansion and demesne on the 
Potomac. 

In the midst of his cares for his charming wife, the 
companion of his joys and sorrows for forty years, and his 
management as legal guardian of the large plantations 
belonging to his wife and her children, the inheritance they 
obtained in three equal parts from the will of Daniel Park 
Custas, her husband, together with his ow^n estates, he 
found time to devote to local and social interests of a public 
nature. Nor was he unmindful of his trust as a Congress- 
man in the Virginian Parliament. Each year he was com- 
pelled to spend two or three months at Williamsburg, a 
distinguished member of that distinguished assembly. 
When for the first time after his military labours he took 
his seat in Congress, a vote of welcome was awarded him 
by the Congress for distinguished service on behalf of the 
colony. Mr. Eobinson, the proposer, spoke in eloquent 
terms and with great feeling, regarding the conspicuous 
military service he rendered his country. ^Ir. West speaks 



52 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

thug of the occasion in his life of Patrick Henry : " As soon 
as Mr. Washington took his seat the proposer, in obedience 
to the chair and following the impulse of his own heart, 
discharged the duty with so great dignity and strength of 
expression that the young hero, when he rose to reply, was 
entirely confounded, and so great was his confusion that 
he could not give distinct utterance to a single syllable. 
He blushed, stammered and trembled for a few seconds, 
when the Speaker relieved him by a stroke of address that 
would have done honour to Louis the Fourteenth in his 
proudest and happiest moments. * Sit down,' Mr. Wash- 
ington,' he said with a conciliatory smile. * Your modesty 
equals your valour and surpasses the power of any lan- 
guage that I possess.' " 

During those years as a public representative of the 
people he rose gradually to much fame in the arena of local 
politics and soon began to be valued by his fellow-delegates 
as one of the leaders in the Assembly. He rarely rose to 
make a speech, but as a wise counsellor and a well-informed 
deputy he had few equals. When he essayed to address 
the delegates, which was rarely and only from necessity, his 
words were well chosen, judicious and to the point. In 
later years he could address an audience with force, direct- 
ness and precision, but even at the height of his fame as 
a statesman he never aimed at or attained to eminence as 
an orator. In power of imagery he was too deficient, nor 
was his language copious enough for excellence in the field 
in which Henry and Lee and Eutledge were supreme. Still 
we must, in judging an orator, take into consideration the 
character of the speaker, his appearance, bearing, the 
quality of his mind, his experience and the nature of the 
cause on which the orator speaks, Washington judged by 
his advantages in these respects, was by no means deficient. 
Henry, America's most famous orator, said of the Vir- 
ginian House of Burgesses in his day : " If you look for its 
greatest orator and most polished speaker, Eutledge, of North 



FAHMEii a:nd congressman. 63 

Carolina — and an Irishman as well — is the most eloquent; 
but if for solid argument and information on all subjects and 
matured judgment, none on the floor equals Washington." 

He loved country life, a natural love to one reared in 
the free bracing air and beautiful scenery of a Western 
plantation. He was fond of farming and studied the subject 
in theory and practice. The development and management 
of his estates engaged him much and occupied the time 
he had to spare amidst his manifold occupations. As a 
farmer he was most progressive. Farming was the chief 
industry in the States in those days. Not more than three 
per cent, of the population lived by trade or commerce or 
in towns in Washington's time. He early saw the possibi- 
lities of these unreclaimed regions with the fresh, new, 
virgin soil, and he encouraged reclamation and canal and 
river development. He had in his boyhood days stepped 
as a surveyor many miles around those lately planted terri- 
tories. He fought up and down and across the frontiers for 
hundreds of miles, and his observant eye and far-seeing 
mind were impressed with the verdant hue and rich soil of 
the country around and the immense w^ealth in j^osse that 
lay ready for development and cultivation. He was looked 
up to in his locality as a model-farmer, and hence we 
find him leading in adapting himself to the needs of these 
colonies. He procured the latest implements and machinery 
for his plantations, and on learning that a machine could be 
procured in England which was capable of rooting up trees 
of considerable diameter, enabling six hands to raise two 
or three hundred trees in a day, he made himself certain 
about the capabilities of the engine and at once sent over to 
England for one without hesitating at the cost. 

He early saw the necessity there was in a new country 
for scientific knowledge in agriculture. Hence he set about 
studying books on different kinds of soil and different systems 
of crop rotation. We see him procuring a book on farming 
written by a Mr. Hall, and he was in communication with 



54 L1f:e of WASHINGTON. 

Arthur Young, of world-wide fame in those days, and from 
him learned much useful information on adaptation of crops 
to the soil as well as up-to-date information of the newest 
machinery. He labelled with his own signature all the 
exports sent by him to England, and among merchants the 
signature of George Washington was always a sufficient 
guarantee of genuineness. It may be interesting here to 
give in some detail what his contemporaries have stated 
about his personal appearance. He was, it is said, of a 
bold commanding appearance, over six feet in stature, 
slender rather than corpulent, his hands v/ere large as 
became a man of achievements, his forehead was square, con- 
notative of executive qualities ; his eyes were calm and could 
flash with stern resolve in exigencies. They were not re- 
markable for size which quality points out the man of 
fluency and the poetic soul. They rather proclaimed the 
man of deeds. His face was singularly broad. The nose 
dilated with a prominent ridge which marked him as a man 
of spirit and resolve. The distance between the eyes and 
the general carriage of the body gave to him a bold, manly 
and daring expression. Knowing his general appearance one 
would like to ask how did he ordinarily dress? Let us 
consult his diary. Here is how he ordered a suit of clothes 
at this time from England : ' ' You will send me a suit of 
wearing apparel for myself and I leave the choice of the 
cloth to your fancy. I want neither lace nor embroidery, 
plain clothes with gold or silver buttons. My local tailor 
has never fitted me properly. I therefore leave the choice 
of the workmen to you. I enclose a measure, and I merely 
will add that I am six feet in stature and more slender than 
otherwise." He was very fond of sporting on the river and 
in the woods, and as his companions in these pursuits were 
the aristocrats of Virginia, Lord Fairfax, Bryan Fairfax, and 
Colonel Fairfax amongst others, all gentlemen and loyalists 
of the rigid school. Hence we find that he was compelled 
to keep up to good style, as those companions in the chase 



FARMER AXD CONGRESSMAN. 5o 

often dined at Mount Vernon. It was the custom with rich 
Virginians to bring over the latest and best in style from 
England. Carriages, horses, hounds, and household fix- 
tures, all were of English manufacture and the very finest 
that their rich plantations could afford. We know that 
Washington had many horses for hunting of first-class 
quality. He possessed a splendid carriage drawn on occa- 
sions by four well-harnessed and well-groomed carriage 
horses. One item from his diary will show how expensive 
and how stylish were his riding equipments. The following 
is an order on his London agent : 

" 1. Man's riding saddle, hogskin seat, large plated stir- 
rups and everything complete. Double -reined bridle and 
Pelham bit plated. 2. A large portmanteau, saddle, bridle 
and pillion. 3. Checked saddle-cloth, holsters. 4. A riding 
frock, with double gilt buttons. 5. A riding waistcoat of 
superfine scarlet cloth and gold lace, with buttons like those 
of coat. 6. A neat switch whip, silver cap. 7. Black 
velvet cap for servant." 

Washington at this time had been contemplating the 
possibility of visiting England, a wish he had early con- 
ceived, but the varied life that he led, the happy home that 
he enjoyed and the changed feeling towards the mother- 
land, which undoubtedly was becoming common among the 
colonists, made it improbable that he would ever cross the 
Atlantic. He was not, however, adverse to foreign travels 
as an educative influence, although he did not much admire 
those who were too cosmopolitan in their tastes. He rather 
wished all Americans to know thoroughly their own country, 
cherish it fondly, and when they left its shores to acquii-e, 
by observation and travel, knowledge that would be of 
advantage to their nation. He moreover held that much 
knowledge acquired from reading is needful for useful and 
profitable travel. Everyone is expected, he held, to be able 
to compare his own laws and customs with the laws and 
customs of the people among whom he travels, and should 



56 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

be able to give an account of the government and laws and 
customs of his own land. 

Americans of Washington's epoch were against much 
foreign travel or foreign education for their people. They 
set a good example to the generations that came after them 
in their love of everything American. If they favoured 
much freedom on democratic lines at home, they just as 
strongly discountenanced a servile imitation of European 
manners, and this was of course most evident in Post 
Revolution times, though of gradual growth from the revul- 
sion in feehng engendered by the Stamp Act in 1765. 
Thomas Jefferson, one of the fathers of the liepublic and for 
many years a resident in Paris, speaks thus of foreign 
training and its effects on character: "He (the traveller) 
acquires a fondness for European luxury and dissipation 
and a contempt for the simplicity of his own country. He 
is fascinated with the privileges of the European aristocrats 
and sees with abhorrence the lovely equality which the poor 
enjoy with the rich in his own country. He forms friend- 
ships which won't be useful to him, and loses friend- 
ships in his own country which are more faithful and per- 
manent. He is led into feinale intrigue, destructive of his 
happiness. He retains a hankering in after life after those 
places and scenes of his first sinful pleasure. He returns 
to his own country a foreigner in language, habits of life, 
and consequently unqualified to act a leading part by word 
or pen in his own free country. It appears to me then that 
an American coming to Europe for education loses in know- 
ledge, in his morals, in his health, habits and happiness." 

Cast," he says, " your eyes over America and you will find 
that the most learned, most eloquent, and best beloved by 
their countrymen, and best trusted are those trained and 
educated at home." A proof of the above strong opinion 
and apparent digression is to be found in the subject of our 
biography. 

Not alon^ was Washington's active mind busy about agri- 



FARMER AND CONGRESSMAN. 57 

cultural pursuits, but his time and talents were freely 
made use of by many of his colonial friends and acquaint- 
ances. It was also during these years that he stole an 
occasional "hour between times to enrich his mind on general 
history and science. His extant letters show how^ numerous 
were his correspondents and how varied were the subjects 
about which he was occupied. We will allow the following 
extract from a letter to a neighbour, asking him to become 
guardian to his child, speak for itself : 

* * I solemnly declare to you that for a year or two past 
there has scarce been a moment that I could call my own. 
"What with my own business, my present ward's, my 
mother's, which is wholly in my hands; Colonel Colville's, 
Mrs. Savage's, Colonel Fairfax's, Colonel Mercer's, who was 
killed in Colonial war, and the little assistance I have under- 
taken to give to the management of my brother Augustine's 
concerns, together with the part I take in public affairs, I 
have been kept constantly engaged in letter writing, settling 
accounts and negotiating one piece of business or another, 
by which means I have really been deprived of every kind of 
enjoyment, and had almost fully resolved to engage in no 
fresh matter till I had entirely wound up the old." 

Washington, as we saw, entered Congress in 1758, and 
continued to represent his native county up till the war 
in 1775. During these years his mind was much occupied 
in a conscientious examination of the great controversies 
that agitated the public and ultimately led to the rupture 
of the colonies from the British Empire. His loyalty to the 
Fatherland was great as long as loyalty was not treason to 
America. At first he could not believe that the friction 
between the Governors and the Assemblies and the Assem- 
blies and Parliament were more than passing, and he thought 
a remedy would soon be found for these divergencies of 
opinions and interests. He sided with the colonies from the 
first in the stand they were making against taxation, and 
he was amonoj the first to advocate a boveott of the Stamps 



58 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

and of every luxury and article shipped from England that 
the colonies could do without. His sentiiTients are well 
expressed at this time in the following extract from a letter 
to Bryan Fairfax: " I am convinced that no man in the 
colony wishes its prosperity better, would go greater lengths 
to serve it, or is at the same time a better subject of the 
Crown." 

He was by temperament and early associations, as well 
as by interest, of a conservative turn of mind; he was no 
rash adventurer like Gates or Lee or Arnold. Had self- 
interest been his ruling passion, he would naturally have 
desired to shun a civil rupture with so mightj^ a power as 
England. Most of the big planters, his associates, wavered 
at the critical period when it was found necessary to declare 
themselves. Was it not under English sway that his proud 
forefathers fought and became famed? Was it not side by 
side with the veterans of the British army that he had 
gained renown? Washington, however, loved liberty and 
his innate sense of justice and fair play soon inclined his 
calm judicious mind to the cause of his' countrymen. In 
him patriotism rose above self-seeking and class prejudice. 
He diagnosed it to be essential that British tyranny and 
aggression should be resisted if his country was not to be 
crushed and his fellow-colonists made slaves. Hence he 
soon became prominent among his fellow-representatives 
in Congress as a fierce opponent of British domination in 
America. 

In 1774 we find him selected along with five delegates at 
Williamsburgh to proceed to Philadelphia to meet delegates 
from the difterent States, called together to devise ways and 
means to further resistance to English encroachments on 
their chartered rights and their constitutions. 

After his return to Vii'ginia he became an active agent in 
forming companies and drilling corps and equipping the 
volunteers for active service. His correspondence at this 



FARMER AND CONGRESSMAK. 59 

time shows the frame of his mind in the crisis that was 
approaching. "At a time when our lordly masters in 
Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than depriv- 
ing America of her freedom, it seems highly necessary that 
something should be done to maintain the liberty which w^e 
have derived from our ancesters." 

But the manner of doing it, to answer the purpose effec- 
tually, is T;he point in question. Again, he writes: " No 
man should scruple to use arms in defence of liberty is 
clearly my opinion. Yet arms should be the dernier ressort." 
Again, " Addresses to Parliament have been shown to be 
ineffectual. How far we may succeed as the Northern 
colonies are leading the way in starving their trade remains 
to be seen. In my opinion the scheme is a good one if 
all the colonies adopt it, i.e., the non-importation scheme. 
That there will be a difficulty attending a wholesale boy- 
cott (?) of British goods is evident. The clashing of in- 
terests and the opposition of selfish, designing men will 
impede its progress. The people should be instructed after 
a certain period not to buy any goods out of the stores of 
importers, nor import or purchase any themselves. Those 
who refuse to co-operate in this anti-importation scheme 
should be stigmatized and made the subject of public re- 
proach." We may here conveniently record some of the 
restrictions by which the colonies were indirectly taxed for 
the benefit of English merchants. 

It was an acknowledged custom among nations at this 
period in history that colonial possessions should repay the 
mother country for protection by buying and selling exclu- 
sively with the mother country. And laws were framed by 
the parent State to restrict the colonists in commerce except 
on fixed lines. As early as 1657 England passed the famous 
Navigation Laws and Acts of Trade, and these laws re- 
mained in force as long as the colonies remained depen- 
dents on her. 



60 LIFE OF washi:ngtok. 

The following are some of the provisions : 

" 1 . All trade between the colonies should be carried on in 
vessels built in England or in the colonies. 

2. The colonies should not export tobacco, sugar, iron, 
timber to any nation but England or some English colony. 

" 3. All European goods should be bought in England and 
shipped in English-made vessels. 

" 4. The colonies should not manufacture any article 
made in England." 

The result of these drastic laws on America were very 
severe. Their hitherto thriving trade with the Dutch mer- 
chant men ceased. Goods imported were sold at the arbit- 
rary prices demanded by English merchants who had a 
monopoly. The shipbuilding trade in America was practi- 
cally destroyed. The lumber and fish trades were 
destroyed owing to the prohibition to allow the colonists to 
trade with foreign nations. These industries were most 
remunerative in a country where every colony bordered on 
the sea and possessed thousands of fishing smacks, and 
where each colony abounded in timber, which was neces- 
sarily constantly being cleared off the soil to admit expan- 
sion in colonizing. France hitherto bought up all the 
lumber and fish in exchange for sugar and molasses. 

Washington was of opinion that in the crisis now arisen 
opposition might at first be expected from those merchants 
who lived by trading and by some of the large planters who 
were wealfhy and had had a fondness for imported luxuries. 
But such was the loyalty of the colonists that most of the 
States unanimously co-operated with their leaders and refused 
to use English wares, and thus indirectly an impetus was 
given to home industries which proved a benefit to the entire 
colonies. 

When it was fast becoming evident to all thinking minds 
that nothing short of a demand for entire submission to 
arbitrary legislation was the English ultimatum to the 
colonists, Washington saw no other alternative possible than 



FARMER AND CONGRESSMAN. 61 

forcible resistance if Americans were not to become slaves. 
He thus expounds his views in a letter to his friend, Bryan 
Fairfax, dated 24th August, 1774: 

" Dear Sir, 

" I presume you have read all the political news in 
the gazettes at this time. Hence I may not hope to en- 
lighten you on the situation so critical for our colonies. I 
could only in general add that an innate spirit of freedom 
first told me that the measures which the administration 
have for some time been pursuing are opposed to everj^ prin- 
ciple of natural justice, whilst much abler men than I am 
have fully convinced me that they are not only repugnant 
to natural right, but subversive of the laws and constitution 
of Great Britain itself, in establishing which some of the 
best blood in the Kingdom has been spilt. Satisfied then 
that the Acts of the British Parliament are no longer 
governed by the principles of justice, that they are tram- 
pling upon the valuable right of America, confirmed to 
them by charter and by the constitution they themselves 
boast of, and convinced beyond the smallest doubt that 
^these measures are the result of deliberation and attempted 
to be carried into execution by the hand of power, is it a 
time to trifle or risk our cause upon petitions which with 
difficulty obtain access and afterwards are thrown aside with 
the utmost contempt? For my part I shall not undertake 
to say where the line between Great Britain and the colonies 
should be drawn and our rights clearly ascertained. I could 
wish I own that the dispute had been left to posterity to 
determine, but the crisis has arrived when we must assert our 
rights or subnait to every imposition that can be heaped 
upon us." 

At this time there were some who thought that England 
by her nominal tax of threepence per pound on tea was not 
in earnest in asserting her right to direct taxation, that she 
was only waiting for time to withdraw her odious Acts 
against which the colonies were protestinf?. The King was 



62 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

obstinate and did not like the idea of such resistance to 
his royal wishes, as expressed by his Minister, Lord North, 
but they said that Parliament was only waiting a favour- 
able opportunity to allay the troubled waters in America. 
Washington was of a different opinion, as was Patrick 
Henry and the two Adams, in fact Massachusetts was strong 
for independence from English control from the first. 

I am not one of those," said Washington, " who think 
that anything less than absolute submission will satisfy 
England. She has acted with a regular systematic plan to 
enforce these Acts, and nothing but unanimity and firmness 
in the colonies can prevent their execution." 

Washington, as we can see from his correspondence at 
this time, felt keenly the situation in which his country was 
placed by the motherland and he left no doubt on the minds 
of his friends and fellow-countryixien about the part he was 
prepared to take in defence of liberty. He was actively 
engaged at this time discussing with his fellow-delegates 
in Williamsburgh and in Philadelphia in general Congress 
tlie best means to pursue in the coming troubles. He was 
instrumental in drafting the non-importation scheme 
adopted by the colonies. He was strongly concerned in the 
active agency of the Committees of Correspondence and 
their utility as means for ventilating their grievances, in- 
forming the States of the laws and enactments passed 
against their rights and charters and liberties by the English 
Parliament and ensuring that all the States might act in 
unison, making the cause of one the cause of all. He co- 
operated in the activity in his own colony in raising and 
drilling militia, and he promised not alone to inspect the 
companies, but to lead them in case resistance by force to 
English aggression became necessary. 

Whilst the country was in a ferment over the Tea Tax, 
the Boston Port Bill, the arbitrary dismissal of the State 
Legislatures by the Hutchisons and Dunmores and the other 
Inval Governors, Washino;ton had private troubles that 



FARMER AND CONGRESSMAN. 63 

divided his time and attention for a while. His young ward. 
Miss Gustas, took ill with consumption and at the age of 
seventeen died at Mount Vernon. The affection of the 
foster-father for his little ward was well shown on this occa- 
sion. To see this strong, courageous and seemingly stoical 
man weeping at the dying girl's bedside, praying on bended 
knees that life might be spared her, gives us another glimpse 
into the character of our hero. He had a kind, gentle and 
affectionate heart. He loved intensely. He pitied others 
in distress and ever acted with kindness and consideration 
for the needs and wants and sorrows of ottiers. 

At this time young Master Custas became engaged and 
was married at the early age of 22 years. Mrs. Washington, 
in her great grief, required the support of her loving husband 
and this she received with all the ardent affection that her 
noble spouse could bestow. 

Since all America by the union of the colonies in con- 
vention at Philadelphia was, as Patrick Henry said, thrown 
into one mass to stand or fall together, no loyal friend of its 
cause could stand with arms folded. " Where," says 
Henry, " are your landmarks — your boundaries of colonies? 
They are all thrown down. The distinction between Vir- 
ginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders 
are no more. I am not a Virginian but an American." 

The tug-of-war was now approaching. An English 
General had already been appointed military dictator in 
Boston, with an army of 5,000 under his immediate com- 
mand, with a reserve of 10,000 under other generals scat- 
tered over the colonies. The old legislatures had been dis- 
solved and the citizens over most of the colonies had estab- 
lished new assemblies to transact their affairs independent 
of the Royal representatives. 

The situation had now arrived which drew forth from 
Washington these words : " Unhappy it is to reflect that a 
brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast, and 
that the once happy and peaceful plains of America are 



64 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

either to be drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. 
Sad alternative, but can a virtuous man hesitate in his 
choice? " 

It had been the intention of the English Ministry to over- 
awe and intimidate the Bostonians and the colonists 
generally, and thus incite them to rash action in word and 
deed. Their desire was to spur them on " to haughty and 
insolent resolve." General Gage, who was Commander-in- 
Chief, never dreamt that there was such a volume of public 
opinion and public resolve behind the fifty-one delegates 
who met in Philadelphia. He thought that their " solemn 
league and covenant " formed to resist English encroach- 
ments on their rights was ill-conceived, ill-advised, and a 
blustering high-sounding threat that was never meant 
seriously to be acted on. He did not know that there were 
giants among those former colonials, men of ability and 
eloquence, men who were acting for three millions of their 
fellow-citizens, men who knew what they wanted and had 
resolved on how their liberties might be preserved. Gage 
was by no means suited for the task assigned him by his 
Royal master and his patron. Lord North. He had not 
tact or diplomacy to allay the ferment of public dis- 
content in America. He was rash and inconsiderate in his 
conduct of affairs. He had a poor opinion of his enemy and 
an exaggerated opinion of himself and his well-equipped 
army. He was not without some good points to recom- 
mend him in the eyes of the Americans. He fought with 
bravery with Braddock and was wounded in the disaster. 
He married an American wife of good connection in New 
Jersey, and he was in private Hfe sociable and good-natured. 
He commanded the American forces after Amherst resigned 
and had been for a time Governor of Montreal when that 
city was captured and Canada made an English colony. 
Still Gage was ill-suited for bringing back the colonies to 
allegiance to England, as the sequel will reveal. When 
General Gage blockaded Boston Port and proclaimed martial 



FARMER AND CONGRESSMAN. 65 

law in Massachussets, the Americans as a body were not 
anxious for separation from England, and when the first 
Convention in August, 1774, met in Philadelphia, with few 
dissentients, the desire of the delegates was for reconciliation, 
and had the Eeconciliation Bill introduced by Chatham 
found acceptance with the Ministry there would have been 
an end to extreme measures on the part of the motherland 
and her American colonies. However, we must not con- 
clude that there was any craven fear or cringing, although 
the wording of the many petitions to the throne was respect- 
ful and dutiful. Let us quote the instruction that the 
delegates from Virginia received on setting out from their 
seat of government to the National Congress. It was bold, 
firm, and logical : 

" His Majesty," it ran, " has expressedly made the civil 
authority in our midst subject to the military. But can 
His Majesty put down all law under his heel? Can he erect 
a power superior to that which erected himself? He has 
done it indeed by force; but let him remember that force 
cannot give right. 

" Let those flatter who fear — it is not an American art. 
Know ye that kings are the servants and not the proprietors 
of the people. Open your breast. Sire, to liberal and ex- 
panded thought. Let not the name of George III. be a 
blot on the page of history. You are surrounded by British 
counsellors, but remember they are parties. You have no 
Minister for American affairs, because you have none taken 
from among us, nor amenable to the laws on which they 
are to give you advice. It behoves you therefore to think 
and act for yourself and your people. The great principles of 
right and wrong are legible to every reader, to pursue them 
requires not the aid of many counsellors. The whole art of 
government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim 
to do your duty and mankind will give you credit when you 
fail. No longer persevere in sacrificing the rights of one 
part of the empire to the inordinate desires of another, 

E 



66 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

but deal out to all equal and impartial right. Let no 
Act be passed by any one legislature which may infringe 
on the rights and liberties of another. 

" This, Sire, is the advice of your American Council, on 
the observance of which may depend your felicity and 
future fame and the preservation of that harmony which 
alone can continue, both to Great Britain and America, the 
reciprocal advantages of their commerce. It is neither 
our wish nor our interest to separate from you. We are 
willing to sacrifice what reason may demand to restore 
peace, but let your conditions be just." 



CHAPTER VII. 

Washington chosen Commander-in-Chief. 

The cause of Boston soon became the cause of the thirteen 
States of North America. It was from the Virginian Legis- 
lature the watchword came that united all the colonies, 
that ** when tyranny oppressed one colony their vindication 
should be taken up by all." It was to repel the English 
from Boston that the Convention met for the second time 
in the summer of 1775, to find ways and means to support 
not alone with sympathy and resolutions, but by men and 
money, the rude but brave extempore army that was 
besieging Gage in Boston after they had tried issue with that 
General at Concord and Bunker's Hill. 

Patrick Henry, in one of his bursts of eloquence at Bich- 
mond, jusl a month before the assembling of Congress in 
May, at Philadelphia, concluded an address which echoed 
over the States : " We must fight. I repeat it, sir, we must 
fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all 
that is left us ! " Washington was not less explicit nor 
less vehement in giving expression to what he considered 
the duty of all liberty-loving Americans. " A brother's 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 67 

sword," says he, ** has been sheathed in a brother's breast. 
Can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice? " 

No doubt many there were over the States who thought 
and acted differently. They were the Tories or Loyalists — 
they called those who favoured war the rebels — the garrison 
party who were hangers-on to the Governors, the ofi&cials of 
the Governors, the self-seekers, and many of the very wealthy 
as well as the pusillanimous and timorous who were watch- 
ing to see in what direction success would lie. There were 
those who said: " We have prospered splendidly under the 
British flag, why disturb the calm and peace of our hitherto 
happy and contented colonies by war? " and who wound up 
their selfish reasoning as did the ale-house keeper, standing 
in his own door, when the hungry and crippled army of 
Washington was passing in retreat from New York across 
the Jerseys, " Leave us in peace our day, let our children," 
he said, as he hugged his infant child in his arms, " win 
their own independence." There was a wealthy class like 
this selfish father in all the States, but the great mass of 
the people were burning for freedom, and the voices of 
Patrick Henry, of George Washington and John Adams and 
the other patriots over the Union sounded the true note 
at Congress which reached the hearts of the people. 

John Adams, writing to his wife from this Convention, 
said: " The business we have on hands is the greatest and 
most important that can be entrusted to any body of men. 
Fifty or sixty men like us have a constitution to form for a 
great empire and at the same time a great army to raise and 
train and equip, to guard a country fifteen hundred miles 
in extent. We have got to fit out a navy, regulate trade and 
negotiate with numerous tribes of Indians." 

One of the first and most important considerations that 
came before the assembly was the appointment of a Com- 
mander-in-Chief : as all patriotic delegates were of opinion 
that the only course open for the colonies was to unsheath 
the sword — to repel force by force. The man to be raised 



68 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

to thia high and honourable position and arduous duty should 
be no ordinary mortal, for in his hands the destiny of the 
country would in great part rest. He must be one that the 
soldiers will follow; hence he must know how to command. 
He must teach obedience and command respect by the 
obedience and respect he himself shows to the orders of 
Congress. A true leader creates obedience in his troops 
just as a successful horseman makes his horse gentle and 
tractable. It is essential then for a Commander to inspire 
his men with respect for his authority. 

As the cause of American liberty was involved in the 
issue, a Commander that should, by his character and per- 
suasive power, bend all the forces to his will became a 
necessity. 

The debate over, the selection engaged the anxious 
thought of the entire Congress. It was well understood by 
the members how local jealousy and State rivalry would 
enter largely into such a matter, but those men in their 
deliberations were above local considerations; they were 
truly patriotic men, honestly bent on acting rightly and 
wisely by the colonies as a whole in the crisis upon them. 
Their object was to select a man who would in his person and 
character unite all the qualifications necessary for a great 
General, a man who should take under him all the forces, 
no matter from what State drafted, officers and rank and 
file and from them mould and build up a formidable Con- 
tinental Army. The man selected must be one in whom 
the Congress, the States, and the army should have implicit 
confidence. 

People situated as the Americans were in those days, 
isolated and scattered over a vast continent, divided into 
States and sub-divided into counties and parishes, separated 
by rivers and woods and mountains, each little local body 
actuated by ideas of independence, sectional and religious 
divisions and other circumstances that lead to pride and self- 
importance. Under such adverse conditions a complete 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 69 

stranger would have a task to undertake that required 
much tact, diplomacy and firmness. Each State had 
military heroes of its own choice, and it would be difficult 
to convince any of them that its choice of a military leader 
might not suit the army and nation as a whole. 

John Adams, a Massachussets lawyer, patriot and states- 
man, saw with a clearer vision than most of his confreres in 
Convention how critical was the situation and hov/ important 
it was to nominate a man able to unite all, both North 
and South, in a solid phalanx in defence of liberty. He did 
not however in words name the Commander-in-Chief, but 
he mentioned the chief qualifications for the position, and 
when he had summarized the qualities of an ideal General, 
he added: " We have not to go outside our own body for 
such a man. We have him on this floor in this House. 
Among other things," he said, " it was important that he 
should be eminent in rank, dignity, and intelligence, courage 
and disinterestedness, ripe in experience, and well adapted 
to govern, discipline, and lead men. Such a one," says 
he " is among ourselves and you have all heard him in 
Council and gained knowledge by his ripe experience and 
wisdom and patriotism in our cause." When x\dams had 
spoken all eyes were at once turned towards Washington, 
and we are told that the modesty of Washington was such 
that he could not stand the gaze of the entire Assembly, and 
at this stage of the proceedings he, the future liberator of 
his country and the hero of the Congress, quietly withdrew 
from the meeting. He was then aware, although his name 
had not yet been mentioned, that it was he to whom all 
turned to lead them to victory in the great Revolution on 
which they w^ere entering. To his wife at this time he 
WTote from Convention that he feared the appointment 
would be offered him. 

If John Adams had done nothing more for his country's 
liberties than suggest that Washington should be Com- 
mander-in-Chief, he would justly deserve the everlasting 



70 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

gratitude of his countrj^men. But this was neither the 
beginning nor the end of his labours for his country. He 
has been styled the Colossus of the war. He was first in 
every debate; in the initial stages of the controversy; he 
was a power in consolidating public opinion in Congress, on 
the platform and by his pen as well as by diplomacy; he 
took a leading part in preparing public opinion in the 
colonies for an armed resistance to British oppression. His 
powers of mind, says Upham, " were of gigantic propor- 
tions, his temperament was ardent and his intrepidity of 
spirit unsurpassed. He foresaw with a prophetic sagacity 
earlier than any other man, with perhaps the exception of 
his fellow-Bostonian and namesake, Samuel Adams, the 
necessity of putting the controversy to the issue of the 
bayonet; and with a clear prescience, drawn from the pro- 
foundest statesmanship and a most comprehensive political 
knowledge, through all the gloom of a sanguinary and ex- 
hausting civil war, he beheld the future glory of his country 
ascending to the summit of national power and diffusing 
the blessings of liberty and peace over the continent and 
the world. With an eloquence that swept the people 
before it and startled senators to their feet, he persevered 
in his work and its accomplishment when the whole nation 
was in the throes of a deadly conflict, and when his country 
was bleeding to death and in sore straits for money and 
foreign alliance he, with Franklin and John Jay, was mainly 
instrumental in gaining to the cause both money and mili- 
tary equipments, so that the war might move by the two 
main nerves, as the poet expresses it, of * iron and gold 
to a triumphant end. After the war he was a tower of 
strength in aiding the moulding of the constitution, and in 
the civil, as in the military, campaign he was the constant 
ally and faithful friend of Washington, whom he imme- 
diately succeeded as President, and twenty years later his 
mantle fell on a not unworthy son who acted as diplomat 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 71 

at foreign courts, as member of the Cabinet and finally as 
President of the Eepublic." 

On the 15th June Congress unanimously elected Washing- 
ton Commander-in-Chief, and on the day following the 
President, Mr. Hancock, officially notified him of the fact. 
On his appointment Washington said: " Mr. President — 
Though I am truly sensible of the high honour done me in 
this appointment, yet I feel great distress from a conscious- 
ness that my abilities and military experience may not be 
equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as 
Congress desires it, I will enter upon the momentous duty 
and exert every power I possess in their service and for 
the support of the glorious cause. But I beg it to be 
remembered that I do not think myself equal to the com- 
mand I am honoured with, and I moreover add that as no 
pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept 
this arduous employment at the expense of my domestic 
happiness I do not wish to make any profit from it, I will 
keep an account of my expenses. Those I doubt not they 
will discharge. That is all I desire." 

He was then handed his commission duly signed by John 
Hancock, President, and witnessed by Charles Thompson, 
Secretary, a native of County Derry. The colonies repre- 
sented in this Congressional appointment were : New Hamp- 
shire, Massachussets Bay, Ehode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Castle, Kent and 
Sussex or Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South 
Carolina. Georgia, alone, owing to action of its Governor, 
was not represented at this Convention. 

In this Commission which he adhered to until it was at 
a later date modified and his powers enlarged, we see he 
was vested with powers to discipline and command the forces 
voluntarily to be raised in defence of American liberty and 
all soldiers and officers were strictly enjoined to loyally 
support and obey him. He was empowered moreover to see 



72 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

that strict discipline be enforced and that his soldiers be 
provided with all convenient necessaries. 

He was moreover to observe punctually the directions 
given him from time to time by Congress, and to hand in 
his commission when, if at any time. Congress might 
revoke it. 

It was with unfeigned regret that Washington under- 
took the onerous duties of Commander of the American 
Army. His letter to his wife at this juncture, which we 
give below, as well as a farewell address to the several 
Independent Companies in Virginia, with which he was 
connected, demonstrated this. 

" I have in this address," he says in his modesty, 

launched out into a wide and extensive field too boundless 
for my abilities and very far beyond my experience." He 
adds: " The partiality of Congress, together with political 
motives, rendered objections unavailing." 

That he parted from his beloved wife and happy home 
and retirement amidst rural delights and a rich fortune, with 
regret, his farewell letter to Mrs. Washington on June 17th 
will show. He v/rote : 

" It has been determined in Congress that the whole 
army raised for the defence of the American cause shall be 
put under my care ; and that it is necessarj^ for me to 
proceed immediately to Boston to take up my command. 

" You may believe me, my dearest Patsy, when I assure 
you in the most solemn manner that I have used every 
endeavour in my power to avoid the appointment, not 
only from my own unwillingness to part from you, but from 
a consciousness of my being unequal to the trust. I know 
I v/ould enjoy more happiness in one month with you and 
family at home than I ever expect in the army were my stay 
seven times seven years. But as destiny has so ordained I 
hope my being thrown upon the service is designed to answer 
some good purpose. You might have observed from the 
tenor of my letters that it was utterly out of my power to 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 73 

refuse the appointraent without exposing my character to 
such censure as would have reflected dishonour upon myself 
and given pain to my friends. 

I shall place my confidence in Providence to preserve 
me as hitherto. My chief unhappiness shall be for you at 
home alone. 

I have made a settlement of my temporal affairs now 
when in sound mind and body, and I have ordered a draft 
of my will to be sent you. I hope the provision I have 
made for you will in case of my death be agreeable to you. 

** George Washington." 

Congress at the same time, when it placed Washington 
in supreme command of the army, adopted other resolu- 
tions and made some subordinate appointments. The 
members of Congress solemnly pledged themselves to sup- 
port the Commander and the cause on which they were 
embarked with their lives and fortunes. It was a bold 
resolve, and to use the insulting expression of their adver- 
saries, they entered upon the contest " with halters around 
their necks." Death and confiscation of their propertjr in 
case of failure would be the result of their patriotic resolve. 
It was agreed in Congress that the army now amounting 
to 16,000 militia men around Boston, camped at Cam- 
bridge should be adopted, and that the beginning of a per- 
manent force from this nucleus, augmented from the States 
to 20,000, should be equipped and paid and formed into 
military companies under the direction of the Commander 
and his subordinate officers. These rude militia men 
under their local officers had proved their patriotic zeal in 
the battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill prior to the 
arrival of Washington, but they had much to learn in dis- 
cipline and in all that goes to make an efficient army. 

Congress named Putnam and Ward, two New England 
leaders, as Majors-General, and to these General Lee, Eng- 
lish born, was added. This soldier of fortune was the selec- 
tion of Washington himself, with the approbation of Con- 



74 LIFE OF WASHIKGTOK. 

gress. Little need be noted here as regards Putnam and 
Ward. They were tried and trusted friends of the cause, 
brave and fearless soldiers beloved by the soldiers of their 
respective States, men who had earned fame in the border 
wars, and had raised themselves to their present eminence 
by their courage and patriotism. Of the forces prior to the 
General's arrival at Cambridge, Ward was Commander-in- 
Chief. Lee had been an officer in the British army and 
had gained distinction in the European wars. He was of a 
roving nature and prior to his arrival in America in 1773 
we find him travelling through Northern Europe, and being 
a man of many parts, versatile as a writer, well-informed, 
and brave as a soldier, mixing in the highest circles, even 
on friendly and on intimate terms with kings and princes. 
So famed had "he become as a litterateur and so well- 
informed in military and State affairs that by some he was 
considered the author of the " Letters of Junius." Lack 
of vanity was not one of his weak points, for we are told he 
was himself the originator of the story. But as he was in 
Europe during most of the time these marvellous letters 
were appearing, enjoying the smiles of royalty, Lee could 
not be the author. The wife of John Adams graphically 
describes him at this time: "General Lee," she says, 
" looks like a careless, hardy veteran, and by his appearance 
brought to my mind his namesake Charles XII. of Sweden. 
The elegance of his pen far exceeds that of his person." 

The Commander-in-Chief had a predilection for Lee. 
When it became evident that war would eventually be the 
end of the trouble between England and her American 
colonies, Generals Lee and Gates visited Washington at 
Mount Vernon, and during their sojourn there impressed 
him with their zeal in the cause of the Americans. From 
them he learned much in military affairs, and from their 
theoretic and practical knowledge gained from books and 
campaigns and camp life he expected great assistance in 
the arduous duties to which he was called. Hence he got 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 75 

both these Generals commissioned to aid and advise him in 
the war. Although their assistance in the initial stages of 
organizing and disciplining may have been valuable, yet, as 
after events will show, both deceived his confidence. Lee 
was certainly nothing more than a clever military adven- 
turer, a disloyal General to his chief, and as he was a traitor 
to Britain, so too he proved a traitor to the American cause, 
though not so base as Benedict Arnold. Gates, who also 
gained by his address and knowledge in the science of war 
on Washington's esteem, was appointed to the rank of 
Brigadier-General. He became in 1777 the hero of Sara- 
toga, and in '79 the disgraced and defeated commander in 
Virginia. 

A number of Generals besides these two were nominated 
by Congress to serve under Washington. Bichard Mont- 
gomery, who gained laurels under W^olfe at the capture of 
Quebec, and who now, an American subject, espoused the 
cause of liberty, was appointed General, together with 
Henry Knox, Sullivan, and Schuyler. Greene also was 
named General at this time, and than he no soldier stood 
higher in the estimation of the Commander, and none con- 
tributed more to the success of the Revolution. 

There were eight Brigadiers-General appointed besides the 
four Majors-General and Commander-in-Chief. A better 
selection of Majors might have easily been made, but as 
events proceeded more freedom in selection of officers was 
allowed the Commander. Congress considered that the 
war storm would soon abate and peace be restored. Little 
did the delegates at Philadelphia know of the stubborn tem- 
perament of George III. 

After a few days necessary delay prior to departure from 
Philadelphia, Washington, accompanied by Schuyler and 
Lee, set out for Boston. A most enthusiastic reception was 
accorded him along the way. At New York an address from 
the citizens was presented. Whilst passing through this 
city his hopes were raised by hearing of the bravery of the 



76 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

American forces at Bunker's Hill. On the 2nd of July he 
entered Cambridge. The next day he formally assumed 
command of the forces. He was now in the prime of man- 
hood, having reached the age of forty-three. As he rode out 
in front of the regiments, under the old elm tree still stand- 
ing near to Andrew Carnegie's house, the then headquarters 
of the General, he presented a noble and pleasing appear- 
ance, and at once won the confidence of the soldiers. He 
was a superior horseman. He had the appearance on 
horseback of a hero, a born soldier and a gentleman. As 
he rode in front of the ranks on his prancing Arab charger, 
with the sword glittering in the bright sunshine, all eyes 
were riveted with delight upon their new Commander, and 
great was the chorus of approbation that greeted him. 

No man," says Bancroft, " had a finer appearance or 
greater dignity of presence than he. He was tall, graceful, 
handsome, athletic and muscular. His calm, resolute and 
commanding aspect filled the hearts of the soldiers with 
confidence." 

He was presented with an address of welcome by the 
Massachussets Bay Congress, in which he was cordially 
greeted and congratulated on his safe arrival amongst them. 

Whilst we applaud," says the Congress, " that attention 
to public duty manifested in your appointment, we equally 
admire that disinterested virtue and patriotism which called 
you forth from domestic life to hazard your life and endure 
the fatigues of war in defence of the rights of mankind and 
the good of your country. We wish you may have found 
such regularity and discipline already established in the 
army as may be agreeable to your expectations. Most of 
those in service in the army are novices to arms, many of 
them were never away from home hitherto. Hence dis- 
cipline and habits of obedience and cleanliness may be 
deficient in many of them. We can assure your Excellency 
that Congress will at all times be prepared to aid you, re- 
moving defects, and looking to the comforts of your army. 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 77 

May the blessing of Almighty God rest on you, that your 
head may be covered in the day of battle, and that you 
may long be continued in health and happiness a blessing 
to m.ankind." 

Washington kindly thanked Congress for their warm 
congratulations, which would be gratefully remembered by 
him, and refused to admit that he was doing more than a 
patriotic American should do, in coming to assist their tor- 
tured province. He adds: " My highest ambition is to 
be able to vindicate your rights and to aid in restoring again 
this devoted province to peace, liberty and safety." 

When Washington arrived in Cambridge after, as he wrote 
to Congress in Philadelphia, " a journey attended with a 
good deal of fatigue and retarded by necessary attentions 
to the successive civilities which accompanied me in my 
whole route," he at his earliest convenience visited the 
different posts occupied by his forces. He found that his 
army was drawn around Boston and the British troops at a 
safe distance in the form of a semicircle, that the line of 
defences to be guarded by him extended almost twelve miles 
from Mystic river on the North to near Donchestcr on the 
South, and that the central point and main strength of his 
army was at Cambridge. To defend this long line he had 
about twelve thousand men fit for military service; there 
were some few thousands added to this number who were 
useless for warfare, boys, invalids and hangers-on, who 
were camped with the heterogeneous multitude that flocked 
to the call to arms. It was decided by a council of war 
that it would not be judicious to contract the outposts for 
the present, as by so doing the inexperienced recruits might 
be discouraged, although the risk was great to have their 
companies in positions so scattered. Washington was care- 
ful in the initial stage of his command to reconnoitre the 
position and strength of the British forces and to keep him- 
self in touch with their movements, both by couriers and 
spies and by means of the prisoners who from time to time 



78 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

fell into the hands of his soldiers, always on the alert for 
any foraging parties from the enemy's camp. He learned 
that Gage had 11,000 men under his command, the prin- 
cipal part of whom were camped on Bunker's Hill, under 
General Howe, brother to Lord Howe, who fell fighting 
so bravely in New York State in the Colonial war. The 
Howes were favourites with the Americans from fond 
reminiscences of their liberal ideas and generous actions 
whilst fighting side by side with the colonials in the fifties. 
The Howes were Whigs of the Burke school and at heart 
disagreed with North's policy; but as soldiers and loyal Eng- 
lishmen they both. Admiral and General Howe, found them- 
selves at fhe command of their sovereign arrayed against the 
Americans in a cause they detested. Under Gage as 
Generals were Burgoyne and Clinton high up in command 
around Boston; Burgoyne was politically opposed to the 
war, and in those days most of the chief officers in the 
English army were keen politicians and many of them had 
seats in Parliament. The King selected the officers and 
none were bold enough to say no to the will of George. 
Royal favour made or unmade statesmen and generals, in 
the early years of this monarch's reign. The army was the 
stepping stone to fame and Burgoyne was ambitious of 
fame. Unfortunately for his reputation he lost an army 
two years later, and just as the degraded Generals in South 
Africa in our time had to bear the odium and shame of the 
bungling War Minister and incompetent Ministry at home, 
so too had the American Generals one and all to suffer loss 
of royal favour and the blame for mismanagement at West- 
minster. Clinton was another General under Gage, who 
figured largely from first to last on the British side in the 
Revolution. He was brave and by no means incompetent. 
He was politically a partisan of the war party in England. 
His American record is not noted for generosity towards his 
enemy. It was he that finally held the position of Com- 
mander-in-Chief in succession to Gage and Howe, when the 




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WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 79 

British troops sailed home from New York to England at 
the end of the war in 1782. 

In the camp of Gage fuel was scarce, and there was no 
likelihood of their sallying forth into the open country, where 
they knew the people were opposed to them and where food 
and fuel and forage would be difficult to procure. But 
although Washington had no fear of a sudden sally into the 
open country owing to these difficulties, yet the affairs of his 
own army gave him much cause for anxiety. He had 
twice as large an army as Gage numerically considered; he 
had plenty of food and fuel, but there were other difficulties 
which militated against efficiency and demanded attention. 

The soldiers were in great part without arms. For guns 
they had nothing but a few fowling pieces, cartridges were 
scarce, and the supply of powder and bullets would scarcely 
have supplied nine rounds for the entire army. There were 
no bayonets, no artillery, except a few insignificant pieces 
that might be useful at short range. Boots and under- 
clothing were scarce. For tents there was a varied and 
often primitive attempt at camp-fitting. A Eev. William 
Emerson, chaplain to the forces, a relation of Emerson, the 
essayist, thus describes the primitive army of the Kevolu- 
tion at Cambridge: "It is," he says, " very diverting to 
walk among the camps. They are as different in their forms 
as their owners are in their dress ; and every tent is a por- 
traiture of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp 
in it. Some are made of boards and some are made of sail- 
cloth ; some are partly of one and partly of the other. Again 
some are made of stone and turf, brick and bush; some 
are thrown up in a hurry; others curiously wrought with 
wreaths and withes." 

Camp life was novel to most of the men under canvas 
at Cambridge. They came from the New England States 
at the summons to arms which the church-bell and criers 
like Paul Revere, gave on the morning of the battle at 
Lexington. The local leaders mustered them and marched 



80 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

them oft from their farms and plantations to fight for liberty 
and to defend their countrymen around Boston. This 
army, thus mustered, longed for an opportunity to face the 
enemy, but the regulars were too wary to be drawn out of 
safe fortifications which they were daily making stronger 
and more secure. 

Washington saw the many difficulties with which he had 
to contend. He saw that those untrained and untried 
militia were partial towards their local leaders and jealous 
that any outside officer should be placed over them. Those 
who distinguished themselves in the colonial wars were in 
their eyes heroes, and the officers as well as men among the 
provincials could ill entertain the idea of having strangers 
placed by Congress to command them. In some instances 
the officers, rather than serve imder outsiders, resigned their 
commissions and returned home. This conduct on the part 
of local leaders, had it been general, would have been 
ruinous among the rank and file. However the men of most 
influence with these raw recruits seconded the exertions of 
Congress and the Generals, Putnam and Ward and Greene, 
local leaders of renown, vied with each other in patriotic 
action, and the army chaplains infused into those God- 
fearing Jonathans and Isaacs and Benjamins a holy resolve 
that their cause was just and that they belonged to the 
army of the Lord of Hosts, fighting for civil and religious 
liberty ; and among the civil powers none was more powerful 
in support of the cause and Commander than Governor 
Jonathan Trumball, of Connecticut, the only Governor of 
the thirteen States who espoused his country's cause; his 
patriotism, zeal and devotion totheEevolution were sanctified 
by religious enthusiasm, as the following address to Wash- 
ington at this time discloses. He says: "The Supreme 
Director of all events hath caused a wonderful union of 
hearts and counsels to subsist among us. You have been 
appointed by Congress to your high command ; be ye there- 
fore strong and courageous. Let the God of the armies-of Israel 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 8l 

shower down the blessing of his Divine providence on you; 
give you wisdom and fortitude, cover your head in the day 
of battle and hour of danger, add success, convince your 
enemies of their mistaken measures, and that all their 
attempts to deprive these colonies of their inestimable con- 
stitutional rights and liberties are injurious and vain." 

Another defect was noted by Washington in his round of 
inspection accompanied by General Lee, viz., the short 
enlistment system by which, no matter how urgent was the 
need for longer service, the men could go home at the end 
of the six or twelve months for which they were enlisted. 
With this defect, he, as was his duty, early acquainted Con- 
gress, but in the succeeding stages of the war, owing to 
this system of depending on militia on temporary service, 
instead of having a standing army like the British veterans, 
he often found himself almost minus an army, just as Con- 
gress when it adopted the patriot army at Boston was minus 
an exchequer to equip a permanent force. 

From Cambridge he had to complain about the delays 
arising from appealing for powers and aids through the 
several State governments. He recommended the appoint- 
ment of a Commissary General to receive army supplies and 
a paymaster, quartermaster and such other general staff 
officers as the exigencies of a regular military establishment 
required. Of course it was imperative that the Generals 
and their subordinates should be placed over their com- 
mands at once. After he had so far reconstructed and 
organized the army he set about with zeal to train and 
discipline it. At this time he wrote Congress, with which he 
was in constant communication, that he observed with 
pleasure that there was material for a good army of strong, 
active and courageous and patriotic men. 

There was a spirit that moved this embryo army and 

which under the skilful leadership of Washington acted as 

a lever towards success from first to last in the Eevolution. 

There was the trustful dependence on the Providence of 

F 



82 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

God which actuated most of the leaders and most of the 
rank and file. With them it was nothing whether they were 
many or few, for God has so ordered things, said they, in 
the affairs of the world as to encourage the use of means and 
yet so as to keep men in continual dependence upon Him 
for the efficiency and success of them. Hence they did not 
exult overmuch at victory since the cause of the success of 
their arms was always attributed to God. In defeat this 
spirit taught them to be hopeful, and if at times the 
Lord of Hosts seemed to abandon His chosen people it was 
on account of their crimes, but they were trustful that 
Heaven would not desert His people fighting in the cause 
of justice. It was this spirit that animated those same sons 
of Liberty, the bone and sinew and salt of Washington's 
army, and never failed that faithful band of patriots who 
fought at Lexington, Bunker's Hill, Trenton and Yorktown, 
and who endured without a murmur the harassing march 
across the Jerseys and the trying winter at Valley Eorge. 
How different was the sj^irit that animated those men from 
the sentiments in derision at their fasts and prayers attri- 
buted to that soldier of fortune, General Charles Lee, 

Heaven," said he, " was ever found favourable to strong 
battalions." 

These were the men of whom it was truly said that they 
were prepared to fight for their convictions and that if they 
in Puritan fashion held with a dour, grim resolve these 
principles, they with the same determination shouldered 
their rifles to fight for these principles. They did not belong 
to a class — not few — who were in the vanguard of the Revo- 
lution, powerful in words and weak in deeds, sluggards on 
the march and skulkers in the camp. Colonel Eeid, first 
secretary to Washington, an accomplished Irish-American 
lawyer from Philadelphia, said of this class : " When I see 
how few who talked so largely of death and honour are 
around me, and that those who are here are those whom it 
was least expected, I am lost in wonder and surprise. Young 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 83 

noisy Sons of Liberty are, I find, the very quietest in the 
field. An engagement or even the expectation of one gives 
a Vv^onderful insight into character." The motto of all true 
sons of liberty was well expressed in the sentiment attributed 
to General Mifflin, who played a prominent part in the Eevo- 
lution and was chairman of Congress at the end of war: '' Let 
us not be bold in declaration and cold in action, nor pass noble 
resolutions and afterwards neglect their accomplishment." 
These brave men around Washington at Cambridge held to 
the democratic creed of the Chief Justice of South Carolina. 

The Almighty created," said he, " America independent of 
Great Britain, hence let us beware of the impiety of being 
backward to act as instruments of the Almighty. Let us 
not refuse our labour in this great work of making our people 
a great, free, peaceful and happy nation." 

Those pioneer rustic militia at headquarters were trained 
from the age of twelve years to rifle shooting and the use of 
the musket on their farms in the woods and plantations. 
" Over every cabin door," says Trevelyan, in his history of 
the American Eevolution, " hung a well-made rifle, correctly 
sighted and bright with use. Beside it was a tomahawk 
and knife, a horn of good powder, and a pouch containing 
bullets, spaches and flints and steel tinders and whitestones, 
with oil and tow for cleansing the muzzle and barrel. 

' ' The support- of the family depended in great part on their 
existence. Straight shooting was a necessity. The deer 
and turkey and goose and at an earlier date on the east 
coast the buffalo were taken down by the rifle ball." It is 
not to be wondered if the American militia were expert 
marksmen. It is said that the sharpshooters or picked rifle 
corps could at quick march kill a man at a few hundred 
yards' distance, and it was one of the characteristics of those 
colonists never to waste their powder. The first pioneers 
ever aimed to kill, whether a buffalo, deer or Indian, was 
the quarry, and the tradition at the time those enthusiastic 
friends of Boston met their General in July of 1775 had not 



84 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

departed. No wonder so many fell mortally wounded at 
Lexington and Bunker's Hill, and so many of the foraging 
parties during the war never returned to their camps after 
they encountered on the outposts " flying squadrons " of 
the Sons of Liberty. 

From the commencement of his command at Cambridge, 
Washington kept a sharp watch on the enemy and occa- 
sionally skirmishes took place. He was at times impatient 
at having to hang so long on the enemy's outposts. The 
enemy, now commanded by General Howe, who replaced 
Gage, was most timorous of experiencing another Bunker's 
Hill. But the American General was impatient to try the 
mettle of his troops against the foe. This decision of his 
was not shared by the officers of his staff, whom he generally 
consulted. A forward movement was deferred at the advice 
of his council of war. All then that he could accomplish 
for the present was to equip his forces, watch the enemy 
closely and hem them in within their entrenchments. 

The American army was deficient in skilled engineers, 
carpenters, blacksmiths, surveyors and purveyors. They 
had in their ranks men who, at raising embankments and 
entrenching themselves behind fortifications with spades 
and mattocks and picks and shovels, had no equal in any 
land or in any army. But for scientific military experts in 
the art of mapping lines, laying trenches and raising 
defences, such as a Frederick, a Cumberland or 
Napoleon employed, none were to be found around 
Cambridge. Later from France and Poland came 

men skilled in the science of Vaubon, whose aid 
at Saratoga and Yorktown was indispensable and in- 
valuable. The motley army was badly served with guns. 
Many had no firearms but old muskets that their fathers 
fowled with in the forests and fought with in the colonial 
wars. Many came armed with scythes straightened and fitted 
to long poles. The farm implements were the tools of war 
for others, whilst cannons, powder and bullets were scarce. 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 85 

It was from Ticonderoga that Henry Knox brought into camp 
on sleighs, some months after July, forty cannons and 
twenty small pounders, together with thousands of bullets 
and a large quantity of powder captured at sea early in 
the Eevolution by brave seafaring men, such as O'Brien, 
Manly, Barry; and hundreds of bold brave men came into 
camp with stores and provisions of every description. The 
cargoes of rum, beef, powder, etc., that covered the seas 
coming from England for the British troops found their way 
to the camp at Cambridge. It may be noted here that the 
American navy founded by Congress early in the war played 
a most important part in winning American liberty. Admiral 
Howe and a British fleet from the commencement of hostili- 
ties hovered around the seaboard of the States to protect the 
land forces, to prohibit American trading and to injure the 
towns along the seaboard as well as impede the fishing in- 
dustry by which so many thousands of the colonists earned 
their living. As America was founded by experts in the arts 
of navigation, and as it was colonized for centuries by fear- 
less pioneers in the mysteries of the sea, it is not to be 
wondered if those hardy seaboard men became the bravest 
and most daring soldiers on the sea that history records, and 
that hundreds of British vessels in merchant and navy ser- 
vice were captured during the war by those navy men of 
the Eevolution. 

Whilst Washington was strengthening his position around 
Boston he was at the same time urging upon Congress many 
necessary reforms. He considered that Congress did not 
allow him sufficient freedom of action as responsible Com- 
mander of the war. " I fear," said he to Congress, " that 
it may often happen in the course of our present operations 
that I shall need that assistance and direction from you 
which time and distance from you will not allow me to 
receive." 

Congress and the States it represented were only united 
in one object — to resist English interference in their domestic 



86 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

affairs and to resist force by force. Each State was jealous 
of its own authority, and Washington and Congress had at 
first only limited delegated power from the State Legisla- 
tures in the conduct of the war and the raising of the sinews 
of war. At first Washington could not call out the State 
militia over which he was Commander without authorization 
from the temporary State Assemblies. He was a servant 
of both the State and National Congresses. Many of the 
delegates did not trust Washington sufficiently at first to leave 
him a free hand in his military operations, and thus we find 
him indirectly complaining about his enforced limitations. 
It was one year later however before he boldly asked for, 
and after his victory at Trenton obtained, a free hand to 
carry out the plans he conceived best in the interests of his 
army. This power was conceded him by a resolution in 
Congress for six months. Prior to General Gage's return to 
England, as it was said to better advise the Ministry on 
American affairs, Washington had a spirited correspondence 
with Gage about his barbarous treatment of prisoners taken 
at Bunker's Hill. In this correspondence Gage ignored 
Washington's title as Commander and looked upon him and 
his army as rebel to their sovereign and deserving of the 
* hemp." The result of their literary encounter was the 
better treatment of prisoners on the part of both armies and 
a friendly exchange of prisoners. Except on one or two 
occasions in the after course of the war no complaints were 
considered necessary by either side. 

About the commencement of 1776 affairs around Cam- 
bridge began to assume a rosy appearance for the Patriot 
army. The arrival of a large consignment of artillery and 
munitions of war rendered Washington in a fit and efficient 
condition to assume the offensive. Old Ethel Allen, by 
his daring and romantic courage in the autumn at Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point, did a service to his country that 
no chroniclers of these times can pass over. It was 
America's misfortune that his capture at Montreal a few 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 87 



months later terminated his career in the cause of liberty. 
He was captured and transported to England. But although 
things looked bright in the early January, yet the six months 
that Washington had been sitting before Boston were not 
without trials for the General, as an extract from a letter 
to Congress shows. " It is not," he says, " in the pages 
of history to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a post 
without ammunition, and at the same time to disband one 
army and recruit another within rifle range of twenty odd 
British regiments, is more than probably ever was attempted. 
If we succeed as well," he adds, ** in expelling the enemy 
as we did in above I think it shall be the most fortunate affair 
of my life." He adds, " No man in Boston wishes to destroy 
the nest more than I do, but owing to the open nature 
of the season without frost and deficient in boats we cannot 
cross and our powder is too scanty to waste on bombard- 
ment. ' * 

Just after the Canadian expedition under the ill-fated and 
brave Montgomery failed, G-eneral Clinton was secretly sent 
off from Boston with several well-equipped companies of 
soldiers to aid in the revolution which was actively spreading 
in Virginia and South Carolina. General Lee with 1,200 
Connecticut soldiers was hurriedly sent off from Cambridge 
to watch Clinton's movements, and to forestall the British 
in New York, where it was at first presumed the British 
General intended to land and rally the Loyalists to his stan- 
dard. The wealthy Loyalists in the city and neighbourhood 
of New York were a powerful body. Having so disposed his 
plans, as far as the North and South campaigns required the 
General's supervision, Washington now concentrated his 
energies about the end of February, so as to make it too 
hot for Howe to long remain inactive in Boston. On the 
2nd of March he commenced a heavy bombardment of the 
English ranks, which cannonading he continued during the 
two succeeding nights. 

Whilst thus harassing the enemy General Thomas, in the 



88 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

quiet hours of the night, was ordered to lead a strong force 
of resolute Americans up to the Dorchester Heights within 
range of the ships and troops in Boston, and here before the 
misty dawn appeared this valiant band of " rebels " had 
themselves strongly entrenched. Howe at first was 
astonished how within range of his guns they mounted the 
heights, and he was still more alarmed at the strength of 
the fortress they had in a few hours raised. His first resolve 
was a brave one. It was the resolve of Gage at Bunker's 
Hill, of Montcalm, at Quebec. He would march out his 
men and expel them. Such a course was imperative as the 
enemy were within cannon range of his sea and land forces 
and already part of the city was in flames from the effects 
of the firing from the Heights. Howe's hopes of dislodging 
the patriots were soon dispelled by the adverse winds and 
boisterous seas which for three hours kept at bay his fleet and 
the 3,000 men he had ordered out to the attack. At last Howe 
saw that it was not possible for him to reach the enemy 
in their strong trenches, and he was forced to call a truce of 
arms in order that his forces might peacefully embark from 
Boston. Inside eleven days his troops had vacated Boston, 
and on the 17th of March Washington entered in triumph the 
capital of Massachussetts Bay and was hailed by a joyous 
and grateful people as their great deliverer. 

Boston was at last free from the terror and the tyranny of 
a British army quartered in their city. The inhabitants had 
endured untold hardships. They had lived for sixteen 
months in dread of the cruel soldiery who, to procure fuel, 
pulled down their dwellings, burned their pews and pillaged 
their churches. The loyalists within the walls, like the 
soldiers, had been cruel and overbearing towards the 
common people, and many friends of liberty fled the town 
in fear and trepidation. Now the scene was changed. The 
unhappy Band of loyalists to the number of 1,500 were in 
turn glad to escape under the British flag with Howe, at 
least as many as his sea-carrying accommodation would 



WASHINGTON CHOSEN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 89 

allow. These loyalists were mainly composed of wealthy 
merchants, members of the Governor's Council, excise and 
custom officers and clergy and commissioners, and the fate 
which banished them from the city and the homes of their 
fathers for ever deprived them of most of their temporal 
possessions. The scene of woe and misery afforded by those 
misguided loyalists, young and old, embarking on board the 
crowded fleet and mixing with drunken soldiers was a pitiable 
sight to behold. Many sons of liberty who fled the city dur- 
ing the siege returned to their old abodes, and it was not long 
until Boston resumed its wonted, happy normal state. 

The damage done to the town was comparatively little. 
Many of the heavier pieces of artillery were in the hurry 
and owing to the over-crowded state of the boats either spiked 
or buried; flour and war stores were in part destroyed. 
Thus ended for ever the rule of Great Britain in Boston. 

Before Washington took up his position with his army 
in New York, his next theatre of action, he was the recipient 
of addresses from Massachussetts Assembly and from the 
National Congress at Philadelphia, to both of which public 
bodies he gave suitable replies. In his reply to the Legislature 
of Massachussetts the following noble and patriotic senti- 
ments occur: " I esteemed it my duty to aid your afflicted 
colony in the unconstitutional and unjust action of Great 
Britain against your liberties. I rejoice that the metropolis 
of your colony is now relieved from a cruel invasion, and that 
those who were sent to erect the standard of lawless 
domination and trample on the rights of humanity are 
banished from your midst and my joy is greater since we 
have effected through the aid of Divine Providence this 
happy result without the effusion of the blood of our soldiers 
and fellow-citizens. May that Being, who is powerful to 
save us and in whose hands is the fate of nations, look 
down with an eye of tender pity upon the whole of the 
United Colonies. May He crown our arms with sucq§s§ in 



90 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the cause of mankind, and may His Divine favour restore 
your once happy State to more than its former lustre." 

In the address from Congress, with John Hancock as 
President, the following passage occurs: " Those pages in 
the annals of America will record your title to a conspicuous 
place in the temple of fame which will inform posterity that 
under 3^our dii'ection an undisciplined band of husbandmen 
in the course of a few months became soldiers, and that the 
desolation meditated against the country by a brave army 
of veterans, commanded by the most experienced Generals, 
but employed by bad men in the worst of causes, was by 
the fortitude of your troops and the address of your officers, 
next to the Providence of God, confined for near a year 
within such narrow limits as scarcely to admit more room 
than was necessary for encampment 

" The Congress have ordered a golden medal adapted to 
the occasion to be struck and when finished to be presented 
tovou." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Mrs. Washington in Camp : Social Side of 
Washington's Life. 

We will, now that Washington's operations have been suc- 
cessful in expelling the enemy from Boston, take a 
survey over personal and general matters bearing on the 
memoirs of our hero. We saw that his hurried summons 
to command the patriots did not permit him to bid good-bye 
to Mrs. Washington in person. However his cares were 
none the less real about his wife and home and family. The 
charge of his estates was entrusted to Mr. Ludd W^ashington, 
and to him Washington gave minute directions as to the 
management of his affairs and clear and accurate returns 
were to be made by him. As we saw Lord Dunmore, the 
loyalist Governor of Virginia, had armed the Tories and 



MRS. WASHINGTON IN. CAMP. 91 

assumed the offensive in that State, burning and pillaging 
towns and plantations ; it was considered that Mrs. Wash- 
ington was not safe at Mount Vernon, and as it was impos- 
sible for the General to visit her in danger, or to comfort her 
in her solitude and loneliness, he wrote her in November to 
come up to his camp at Boston^ which she accordingly did, 
accompanied by her son, Mr. Custis, and his young wife. 

Mrs. Washington drove in her own carriage, with a yoke 
of four beautiful horses, v/ell groomed and richly decorated 
after the stjde of wealthy planters in those days in the ' * Old 
Dominion." The arrival of the Commander's wife at Cam- 
bridge was a day of special jubilation in the army. Some of 
the more anti-English among the patriots, whilst admiring 
the livery and scarlet-decked postillions, suggested that the 
style was too English and aristocratic. As Washington was 
constantly engaged among his corps, or in his office project- 
ing with his officers or corresponding with the committees 
and Congress at Philadelphia and regulating military affairs 
with the legislatures of the different States, he had little 
time to devote to the social side of life, and although a man 
most courteous and ceremonious in his habits, yet attention 
to his professional concerns left him little or no time to dis- 
charge the duties of host in a manner suitable to the expec- 
tations of his new friends, the officers and civil authorities 
by whom he was surrounded. In a letter to Mr. Keid, his 
secretary, who hinted to him that some jealousies were 
visible on account of apparent neglect of sociability by Wash- 
ington, he wrote : " My constant attention to the great and 
perplexing objects which continually arise to my view absorbs 
all lesser considerations, and I have scarcely time to reflect 
that there is such a body as the General Court of this 
colony." " The presence of Mrs. Washington," says Wash- 
ington Irving, " relieved the General from this kind of per- 
plexity. She presided at headquarters with mingled dignity 
and affability." Strangers were invited to dinners, and life 
was under Mrs. Washington's charming personality assum- 



92 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

ing a more pleasing aspect. We find Mrs. Adams present 
at dinner with the General and his wife and the Generals 
of the army. John Adams also was a welcome guest at the 
board, and writing of a visit he paid to Cambridge, he says : 
" I dined at Col. Mifflin's with General Washington and 
his lady and a vast collection of other company, among 
whom were six or seven Sachems and warriors of the French 
Caughnawaga Indians with their wives and children. A 
savage feast they made of it, yet were very polite in the 
Indian style. I was introduced to them by the General as 
one of the Grand Council at Philadelphia, which made them 
prick up their ears. They came and shook hands with me." 
The presence of Mrs. Washington in camp gave a stimulus 
to the officers' ladies to sow and knit for the army. She 
was constantly in her spare moments engaged providing 
garments and necessary wearing apparel for the troops, many 
of whom came into camp very poorly clad and ill equipped 
for winter weather. If the opportunities around Boston 
were limited as far as Washington was concerned for social 
enjoyment, when he removed his headquarters to New York 
his toils and cares were incessant. He says: " I give in 
to no kind of amusements myself, and consequently those 
about me have none, but are confined morning and evening 
attending to public duties." Mrs. Washington was more re- 
strained in her sphere of social activities, yet by her feminine 
graces and simple dignity she lent a charm to the scene in 
the midst of such stress of military cares. A lady complain- 
ing of the restraint of camp life at this time says : * ' We 
live like nuns stuck up in a convent, have no society in town 
nor can we go out after a certain hour in the evening without 
the countersign." 

Although the General and Mrs. Washington were not at 
Mount Vernon to dispense hospitality and superintend their 
domestic affairs, yet their desire was that the honours of a 
generous planter's mansion should not be broken up, hence 
we find him writing to his steward as follows : ' ' Let the 



MRS. WASHINGTON IN CAMP. 93 

hospitality of the house with respect to the poor be kept up. 
Let no one go away hungry. If any of this kind of people 
should be in want of corn supply their necessities, provided 
it does not encourage idleness; and I allow you to give in 
charity to the amount of forty or fifty pounds a year where 
you think it well bestowed. You are to consider that neither 
myself nor my wife are now in the way to do these good 
offices." 

A letter like this gives one an insight into tlie character of 
Washington. It shows the great heart of this great man. 
In the midst of mighty concerns and anxious times one 
might expect him to overlook such matters, but no : his 
calm, massive mind and generous nature overlooked no 
detail, and so we see the secret of his success. He was 
the ideal of the common soldier, if he was firm and unbend- 
ing in discipline, he was kind, generous and sympathetic to 
their every want, and in him they knew they had a friend 
who cared for them like a father. Washington was much 
perturbed during the first year of his command over the 
demoralized state of the rude recruits from New England, the 
chief post of his army. He writes General Greene, himself 
a native of Ehode Island, in the following strain: " Such 
dearth of public spirit and such want of virtue. Such stock- 
jobbing and fertility in all the low arts to obtain advantage 
of one kind or another I never saw before, and I pray God 
may never witness again. Could I have foreseen what I 
have experienced and am likely to experience, no considera- 
tion on earth should have induced me to accept this com- 
mand." Greene, a loyal friend of the General, with great 
concern writes in reply: "That Washington had no time 
to make himself acquainted with the genius of their people ; 
they are naturally brave and as spirited as the peasantry of 
any other country. The genius of the people is commercial 
from their long intercourse with trade. The sentiments of 
honour, the true characteristic of a soldier, has not yet got 
the better of interest. His Excellency has been taught 



94 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

to believe the people here a superior race of mortals and 
finding them of the same temper and dispositions and pas- 
sions and prejudices, virtues and vices of the common people 
elsewhere, they sink in his esteem." 

In explanation of the presence of Eed Indians at head- 
quarters we may mention that Carleton, the English Gov- 
ernor of Canada, was organizing the Northern tribes across 
the St. Lawrence and in New York State to join him in 
defence of Canada. Carleton, by the way, was an Irishman, 
a native of Tyrone and probably a relative of the novelist of 
that name, a most humane gentleman as his conduct on the 
death of Montgomery testifies, and his treatment of the dead 
and wounded and prisoners of war in the unfortunate expedition 
of Sullivan, Arnold and Burr confirms. Those who were 
not friendly towards the approaches of the English General 
came to Washington at Cambridge and Schuyler at iVlbany 
to see if the services of their tribes would be accepted by 
the Americans. Congress passed a resolution that unless 
the English should employ the Eed men they would not 
allow them into their ranks. Washington knew the value 
of these savages better than most men. Fierce in their 
hate and deadly in their thirst for revenge, as allies they 
were not to be despised, though for real warfare they were 
more of an encumbrance than a help. To placate them on 
the borders would ensure security to the backwoods men, 
and where they were located the enemy could not forage in 
safety. Hence we see the General honouring these savages, 
dining with them and humouring their native pride. 



CAMPAIGN AROUND NEW YORK. 95 



CHAPTER IX. 

Campaign Around New York : Battle of Long Island. 

Washington next directed his attention to the defence of 
New York, where he believed Howe had determined to estab- 
lish his headquarters after the evacuation of Boston. This 
city commanded a prominent central seaboard position. 
To capture it meant much to the British. It was in New 
York and across in New Jersey and down in Maryland that 
the most influential Tories and Loyalists resided. From it 
could easily be captured the western districts, and up on the 
Hudson the forts and accesses to the North could be 
guarded. In New York a plot was brewing at the time of 
Washington's arrival in June, which had it been successful 
might have put an early end to the war. British gold was 
then as ever being freely used to buy traitors in the American 
ranks, and Tryon, the Tory mayor of the city, was in league, 
from a safe retreat on board a vessel at Sandy Hook, with 
the Loyalists within the city, now occupied by the con- 
tinental forces. The plot, discovered and nipped in the bud, 
was a bold one, aiming at no less a coup than the capture 
of Washington as a prisoner of the British General. Fortu- 
nately it ended in smoke. One of the soldiers, an Irish- 
man named Hickey, was convicted by courtmartial and shot 
in presence of the entire army, a rigid example of the strict 
enforcement by Washington of the principle of death to 
traitors. The work of fortifying New York was actively pur- 
sued by Washington's army. Obstructions were placed in 
the north and east rivers, batteries were erected on the 
islands and on the landing posts, and two strong forts were 
raised on either side of the Hudson, a few miles above the 



06 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

city, Fort Washington was situated on the east side and Fort 
Lee on the Jersey side of the river. Congress in the 
meantime had given instructions that 20,000 additional 
troops be levied from New England, New York, Jersey, 
Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. General Howe 
arrived on Staten Island, beside New York, on 1st July. 
Soon after his arrival a large reinforcement of troops joined 
his command. Admiral Howe, his brother, was in com- 
mand of the fleet — a fleet so large and formidable that Par- 
liament believed it would have little trouble in bringing the 
war to a successful close. Just about the advent of the 
British fleet under Lord Howe, the news came to Wash- 
ington at New York, that the Act of Independence had 
passed in Congress and was to be proclaimed over the States. 
The news gave unfeigned delight to all America and was 
instrumental in raising the spirits of the troops to the highest 
pitch of enthusiasm. Great was the applause of the entire 
forces, as they were paraded, to hear the reading of the 
Declaration. The insignia of Royalty were torn down from 
the city hall and a leaden effigy of George III., w^hich stood 
on a prominent pedestal, was converted into bullets for the 
continental army. By many true friends of liberty it was 
believed that the Declaration should have been made a year 
earlier. This might probably have saved Canada to the 
Union. It would have certainly rallied foreign support from 
England's rivals sooner to the American flag. It was the 
opinion of Washington from the beginning of the campaign 
that reconciliation short of subjugation was never contem- 
plated by George and his war advisers in England. John 
Adams, in a letter to his wife, a true New England 
" daughter of liberty," epitomised the display of joy on the 
momentous day on which America had the Declaration ful- 
minated over the States: " The day," he wrote, " is past. 
The 4th of July will be memorable in the history of America. 
I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding 
generations as the great anuiversary festival. It ought to be 




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C 
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CAMPAIGN AROUND NEW YORK, 97 

celebrated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devo- 
tion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, 
shows, games, sports, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from 
one end of the continent to the other, from this time for ever. 
I am well aware of all the toil and blood and treasure it will 
cost us to maintain the Declaration and support and defend 
these States. But the end is worth more than all these 
means." Adams was a true prophet. The sacrifice of men 
and money was great before victory rewarded their patriotic 
endeavours when the Treaty of peace seven years later was 
signed; and ever since there is no day of the entire year 
on which more unbounded joy and enthusiasm prevails than 
on the 4th July, the anniversary of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. The writer of this biography was witness of 
the festivities when on an American holiday in 1904, and 
from early morning till a late hour at night the town of 
Niagara and the Northern parts of the State of New York in 
which he was travelling were en fete. In the papers the 
next morning was a remark which was justifiable: " That 
there was more powder wasted on the anniversary day than 
was used during the entire Eevolution." The commemora- 
tion and jubilation of this historic event reminds 
one of Easter Monday, the day St. Patrick proclaimed 
at the Public games at Tallaght, the establishment 
of the Christian faith in Ireland. A day ever since 
set apart for sports and games and jubilation. Lord 
Howe came over with forces which his masters in England 
believed would crush the rebellion in a few months. The 
most formidable army that ever sailed the seas from Eng- 
land at any time in history, but besides his big battalions he 
also bore the olive leaf. Instructions and power were given 
him to treat with the American people for peace. His 
powers were not however to recognize any authority in 
America, independent of that derived from and in subordi- 
nation to England. Howe, however, found his task a difii- 
cult and a fruitless one. The people of America to whom 

G 



98 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

he appealed paid no heed to his proclamations for peace, and 
he was no more successful in his appeal to Washington, 
whom he addressed simply as " George Washington, Esqr.," 
a title Gage repented of applying to him a few months pre- 
viously at Boston. Washington was not free to treat with 
him, had he been so inclined, in any official capacity. Con- 
gress were opposed to any overtures whilst their country 
was surrounded by a British army. Washington, in a 
courteous letter to the British General, thus writes: "I 
find you are empowered to grant pardons, we have com- 
mitted no offence, we need no pardon." Eeinforcements 
were coming regularly from England from the time the 
British Cabinet determined that the rebellion should be 
crushed. We find from Washington Irving that in the 
month of August General Howe had an active force of 24,000 
men under his command. 

** The Duke of Brunswick, the Langdarve of Hesse 
Cassel and the Hereditary Prince of Cassel, Count 
of Hanan, had been subsidized to furnish troops to assist 
England in the subjugation of her colonies. Four thousand 
three hundred Brunswick troops and nearly thirteen 
thousand Hessians had entered the British service. Besides 
the subsidy exacted by the German princes they were paid 
seven pounds four shillings and four pence sterling for every 
soldier furnished by them and as much more for every one 
slain." In the Southern States a part of the army was 
under the command of General Clinton at Charleston. The 
main body of Hessians at Staten Island were in charge of 
De Heister, while Lord Cornwallis at this time came over 
to command under Howe. Cornwallis was by far the most 
active and fearless General on the British side. We will 
meet with him in the hunt to Trenton, and we will see him 
scouring with his flying squadrons the Carolinas and Virginia 
in pursuit of Greene and the other American Generals. We 
know that he was at last caught like a rat in a trap at York- 
town. Those who wish to follow the fortunes of this intrepid 



CAMPAIGN AROUND NEW YORK. 99 

British nobleman may recall how he was placed over the 
King's troops in Ireland, how he refused to do the dirty 
work of murdering and slaughtering women, children and 
men in Ireland, how a cruel General named Lake took 
up his command and became almost as famous as Cromwell 
was in his Irish wars for his savagery in the Irish rebellion. 
It was Cornwallis, as Lord Lieutenant in Ireland in succes- 
sion to Lord Camden, that worked up the cause of the 
Union for Pitt by bribery and corruption. The defeated 
General of Yorktown must have had bitter memories of the 
wounds inflicted on England by the sons of Ireland in the 
Revolution. Was it possible that his name is linked with the 
younger Pitt's infamy in revenge for Yorktown? We find 
Washington at this critical juncture, when the pick of the 
British veterans were gathering around him and his raw 
recruits at New York, writing to Congress on August 8th a 
letter from which we get some idea of the inadequacy of 
his forces to meet so formidable an army of veterans and 
picked officers as Howe commanded : ' * For the several 
posts," he says, " New York, Long Island, Governors Island 
and Paulus Hook, we have 17,225 men, of whom 3,668 are 
sick and that to repel an immediate attack he could cer- 
tainly call on no other addition to his numbers than a batta- 
lion from Maryland." From Washington's correspondence 
at this time we also learn that he was not very hopeful of 
gaining any success against such superior forces, but as an 
encounter was imminent he was preparing to give battle and 
had hopes that the enemy would buy dearly any advantage 
they might gain over him. He sent Greene, his favourite 
General, to command 9,000 men that he had located on 
the Brooklyn Heights. Greene raised formidable fortifica- 
tions between his lines and Staten Island, with the Brook- 
lyn Hill intervening. It was expected that Howe would 
land his forces on Long Island from their encampment on 
Staten and there engage the Americans. 
Washington knew that battle could not long be deferred, and 



100 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

he used every effort of his genius to instil patriotism and 
courage into his inexperienced troops. The orders that he 
gave were soul-stirring. " The time," he says, " is now at 
hand which must determine whether Americans are to be 
freemen or slaves, whether they are to have any property 
they can call their own, whether their houses and farms are 
to be pillaged and destroyed and themselves consigned to a 
state of wretchedness, from which no human efforts will 
deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, 
under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our 
cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a 
brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have 
therefore to resolve to conquer or die. The eyes of our 
countrymen are upon us. Let us encourage each other and 
show the whole world that a freeman contending for liberty 
on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on 
earth. " Washington's stirring speech and brave words were 
aimed at the one end of bracing his men to face the foe with 
a firm front, each looking to his companion for support, and 
to his superiors for orders, none lagging behind. He pro- 
mised death to deserters and rewards for bravery. The 
battle of Brooklyn on Long Island was fought on the 27th 
of August, 1776. The approximated strength of the armies 
was: English, 30,000; Americans, 18,000. Of course not 
more than one-half of the forces on each side were engaged. 
General Greene took ill prior to the war. The tension and 
anxiety and over-exertions in preparation for the encounter 
were too much for his powerful constitution. We saw how 
over-anxiety brought on a fever on Washington prior to 
Braddock's defeat, and the immortal Wolfe lay ill unto 
death before Quebec before he essayed its capture from the 
stupendous cliff below the Plains of Abraham. Greene's 
illness disconnected the plans of the General very much, 
and a brave though inferior and unsuitable General took 
command over troops he was not accustomed to command and 
over a country he had not reconnoitred. 



CAMPAIGN AROUND NEW YORK. lOl 

The British landed on the southern shores of Long Island, 
and between them and the Americans lay the wooded heights 
of Brooklyn. The Prussian, De Heister, led the British 
centre ranks, whilst General Grant led the left wing. 
General Clinton, Lords Percy and Cornwallis had command 
of the main forces, which composed the right wing. 

The British plan of attack placed the Americans between 
two fires and at the same time was so arranged that Putnam 
could not force a retreat without much loss of men. The 
contest was fierce and resolute on both sides. The British 
had all the advantages on their side. The Generals were 
skilled veterans, learned and experienced in the art of war 
on an extended scale. The soldiers were not like most of 
the Americans unused to arms, most of them having passed 
through the European wars when Pitt was at the helm of 
State. As already noted the British had the advantage 
in point of numbers. The driving force of patriotism and 
enthusiasm was the only peculiar advantage on the side 
of the colonials. Whilst the British foot and artillery 
marched to the attack by land, the flower of the English 
fleet kept up a deafening cannonade. 

The unfamiliar sound of the heavy guns was bewildering 
and distracting to the raw levies of Putnam, Sterling and 
Sullivan, the three Generals in chief command. The result 
of the encounter was certain from the outset. The Americans 
offered a brave but brief resistance, and hard pressed by 
the Hessian centre were forced in confusion to fly to the 
woods. Lord Sterling and Sullivan were completely 
hemmed in by the enemy's right wing, and obliged to sur- 
render, whilst the Hessians and Clinton with a detachment 
cut off all avenues of communication with the American 
camp. The defeat was complete at every point and up- 
wards of one thousand prisoners were captured by the British. 
The rest of Putnam's army fell back to their entrenchments 
hotly pursued by the enemy's forces. Thus ended the 
important battle of Brooklyn Heights. 



102 Life of Washington. 

Washington, though not sanguine of any great success in 
this unequal encounter, was not prepared for so crushing a 
defeat. His anguish at the result which he witnessed from a 
distance was extreme. He had not been on Long Island 
at the beginning of the encounter ; but when he arrived dur- 
ing the rout he saw at once and felt keenly the position he 
would be placed in by the disaster. There is no doubt that had 
General Howe followed up the attack with vigour he might 
have stormed the American lines and captured the entire 
forces under Putnam, thereby at one stroke nipping the 
colonial cause in the bud. He however contented himself 
with securing the ground he had gained and from some un- 
known cause allowed the enemy to remain in safety in their 
entrenchments. Even had the fleet advanced up the east 
river it would have been next to impossible for Washington 
to withdraw his Brooklyn forces from their perilous position. 

As it was, the situation was a critical one for Washington. 
His army was disheartened, exhausted and exposed to in- 
clement weather, with the enemy at hand entrenching them- 
selves around the Heights. A council of war was called, 
and it was resolved that at night fall they should gather 
all the available boats and secretly withdraw to New York. 
The night was dark and misty. The enemy were busy with 
spade and pick-axe fortifying themselves. In the dead of 
night, in supreme silence, Washington, like a second Wolfe 
in a different cause and with other objects in view, trans- 
ported his entire forces and baggage without the loss of a 
single man and unseen by the enemy across the blue, fog- 
bound waters to the city of New York. In this brilliant 
retreat across the river to the Manhattan banks our General 
performed a feat rarely surpassed in the history of warfare. 
He worked during this trying time almost beyond the 
limits of human endurance. He wrote some time after that 
for forty-eight hours he had not been out of his saddle. 

Great was the surprise of the British when on the morning 
of the 29th of August as the fog lifted they descried the 



CAMPAIGN AROUND NEW YORK. 103 

deserted camp of the enemy. Marshall, in his life of Wash- 
ington, says: " The manner in which this critical operation 
was executed and the circumstances under which it was 
performed added greatly to the reputation of the American 
General in the opinion of all military men. To withdraw 
without loss a defeated, dispirited army in their undiscip- 
lined state from the view of an experienced and able officer, 
and to transport them in safety across a large river while 
watched by a numerous and vigilant fleet, require talents 
of no ordinary kind ; and the retreat from Long Island may 
justly be ranked among those skilful manoeuvres which dis- 
tinguish a master in the arts of war. ' ' Washington has been 
condemned by military authorities for risking his army in 
defending Long Island, but it was clear his object was to 
defend New York at all cost, and by defending Long Island 
he kept open a space of country between the city and the 
enemy. We might, however, doubt the wisdom of dividing 
his forces against a superior land force and with the great 
danger there was that the fleet would impede a retreat. 

Writing to a friend he attributed the shameful defeat of 
the 27th of August in great measure not to want of bravery 
on the part of the men, but to the sudden surprise and 
precipitate retreat of two detachments posted in a wood to 
intercept the enemy. Washington had no cavalry and here 
lay a grave defect in his army in the beginning of the Eevo- 
lution. Cavalry could easily have rectified the retreat of 
those troops and comm.unicated particulars at once to Put- 
nam, who was in command. Another defect calling for 
immediate remedy was the embarrassment of having ofiicers 
elected by the local militia who were in many instances un- 
suited for command in any disciplined and formidable 
attack. The demoralizing effect of the defeat on the army 
was incalculable. The soldiers had as a consequence of 
this rebuff less confidence in their leaders and were inspired 
with dread of the enemy. To Congress Washington thus 
writes on the effects of the defeat : * * Our situation is truly 



104 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. 

distressing. The check our forces sustained on the 27th ult. 
has demoralized our troops. The mihtia instead of calling 
forth their best efforts to a brave and manly opposition in 
order to repair their loss are dismayed, untractable and im- 
patient to return home. Great numbers of them have gone 
off. Want of restraint is universal. No trust can be placed 
in troops on temporary service." The 1st September found 
the British General in complete possession of Long Island. 
His next move it was presumed would be to capture New 
York. With the fleet to protect the landing of the troops 
on Manhattan there seemed little doubt that he would 
accomplish his object. Washington summoned a council of 
war and the decision was arrived at to defend New York for 
some time longer. The reason for this decision was that 
by so acting and impeding Howe's progress they would 
prevent him from further operations before he retired to 
winter quarters. It was not however considered possible 
under the circumstances that the continental forces could 
hold New York for long. A temporary occupation and some 
skirmishes with the enemy would tend to raise the drooping 
courage of the army. It soon however became evident that 
unless the American forces consented to be cooped up in 
the city and thus prevented from further participation in 
the struggle for liberty, that without further delay the city 
must be evacuated and the army must be led back towards 
the heights of Harlem. As the hopes and aspirations of 
the inexperienced troops after the Long Island disaster were 
cooled, Washington endeavoured by skirmishes with 
detached foraging parties of the enemy to revive the droop- 
ing spirits of his men. In some of these brushes with the 
British outposts he was eminently successful and inflicted 
much injury and loss of life to his adversary, with little loss 
to his own ranks. It was at this time also that the brave 
young Nathan Hale, from Connecticut, ^vhom we may take 
to have been of Irish origin, gave up his life in the cause 
of his country. Washington had made an effort to enlist 



CAMPAIGN AROUND NEW YORK. 105 

some fearless patriot to venture within the British ranks as 
a scout and bring back information as to the plans and 
intentions of Howe. Young Hale, during those two weeks 
which elapsed from the evacuation of Long Island to the 
evacuation of New York, went across East river and entered 
Howe's camp as an American spy. He succeeded in getting 
much valuable information about the enemy's plans and 
fighting strength and was on his way returning to the 
American camp when captured. He was promptly ordered 
by a courtmartial to be hanged as a spy. He was very 
cruelly treated in his last moments, the ministrations of his 
clergyman being denied him. He wrote to his mother a 
farewell letter, but his jailer, without commiseration for a 
youth only 21 years of age, tore it before his eyes. His 
dying words were those of a hero : " I only regret I have 
but one life to lose for my country." Howe ceased his 
waiting tactics on Long Island, discontinued the bombard- 
ment of the city in consideration for his loyalist friends who 
were surrounded by the army of Washington, and under 
shelter of the fleet ordered Sir Henry Clinton to cross over 
to New York with a force of 4,000 picked men. 

The place of landing selected was Kips Bay, between the 
two divisions of the American army, those commanded by 
Putnam yet in the city and the main forces on the Heights 
of Harlem. It is recorded that on this occasion Washington 
for the first and only time during the war lost his self-control 
on seeing the cowardly flight of the militia who were posted 
at this point to impede the landing of Clinton's troops. The 
excitement on seeing his men dispersing in wild confusion 
without waiting for the enemy to attack them overwhelmed 
him ; and in his excitement he spurred his charger and gal- 
loped backward and forward among the soldiers in their dis- 
graceful flight, calling upon them to form line and rally to 
the charge. He brandished his sword in their face and 
snapped his revolver, but all to no purpose. At last, in 
anguish and pain, he exclaimed : ' ' Are these the men with 



106 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

whom I am to defend America? " Eeckless of his own 
life and despairing of his cause in excitement he courted 
destruction by wanton exposure in front of his foe and only 
retired within his lines when forced to do so by his officers. 

It was after this rout and retreat to Harlem that he 
obtained the ear of Congress to enlist a standing army instead 
of militia with short service. Each state was requested to 
raise a certain number of battalions and officers to be ap- 
pointed in consultation with Washington. 

As the above incident lets us see the volcanic nature of 
our hero at all times held in check by his indomitable will 
power, so the following incident which occurred some weeks 
later shows us the big heart of the man welling over with 
commiseration for his men. When Howe's troops were 
attacking Fort Washington and butchering the soldiers led 
by Colonel Megaw in the fortress, W^ashington, from his 
camp on the opposite shores of the Hudson, was an eye- 
witness of the harrowing scenes, and on the spectacle of 
seeing his men on bended knees, with uplifted hands appeal- 
ing for their lives, the General, helpless to come to their 
aid, was unable to restrain his tears. The continental 
troops were not one moment too soon in evacuating New 
York, and as it was, the tail end of General Putnam's forces 
to the number of three hundred men, with much provisions 
and some heavy artillery, fell into the enemy's hands. The 
Americans first entrenched themselves on Harlem Heights, 
but soon it became evident that Howe, by his fleet moving 
up the river and into the Hudson, would make it impossible 
for Washington with safety to long hold these commanding 
Heights. After tarrying a few weeks at this post, during 
which time he had some successful skirmishes with the 
enemy, he removed up the country to the White Plains, and 
finally hard pressed by Howe on his flank, transferred his 
forces in part into New Jersey. 

The two forts which Washington had raised and fortified 
early in the summer. Forts Washington and Lee, still re- 



RETREAT ACROSS THE JERSEYS. 107 

mained in his hands. After a council of war, about the 
advisability of holding on to Fort Washington on the East 
side of the Hudson, it was decided to place 2,000 men to 
guard it under Colonel Megaw. The plan that Howe had 
marked out for his activities was to bombard Fort Washing- 
ton, and with his main army cross The Jerseys, conquer the 
territory on his march and capture Philadelphia, " the Kebel 
City," where he promised himself to establish his winter 
quarters. Washington, who knew the importance of guard- 
ing the Hudson, was intent on proceeding North along the 
river, but on learning of the enemy's intentions he left 
4,000 of his troops under General Lee at North Castle on the 
Hudson and withdrew his main army to Fort Lee on the 
Jersey side of the Hudson river. 



CHAPTER X. 

Eetreat Across The Jerseys. 

Misfortune was dogging the steps of Washington at this 
juncture. He was an eye-witness of the sad scenes and 
loss of 2,000 men at Fort Washington. Lord Cornwallis 
was approaching his main army with a superior force down 
the Jersey banks from the North. There was nothing left 
the General, hot pressed by the British De Wet of that time, 
but to retreat across The Jerseys towards the Delaware. 
This retreat remains in the history of the war as the most 
memorable and saddest episode in the Revolution. Mis- 
fortunes of many kinds tended to make this rout and retreat 
historic. The army became demoralized and desertions 
occurred in thousands. Hunger, cold and want of shoes, 
garments and blankets rendered the retreat through a then 
almost hostile country a case of " hoping against hope." 
The Flying Corps of Jersey militia enlisted for short service 
sought their homes and could not be induced to continue in 



108 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the ranks, pursued as they were by the swiftest and most 
skilled of the British Generals (Lord Cornwallis). The 
Loyalists, numerous in these parts, were flocking in hun- 
dreds to the enemy's standard, and hundreds of patriot 
farmers, in fear of the terrible successful pursuer, were 
swearing allegiance to England. The miracle of it all is 
that Washington's army was not either captured or annihi- 
lated on this memorable retreat, with a dwindling army and 
a rapidly pursuing foe; it required the most consummate 
generalship to keep the enemy at bay whilst crossing rivers 
and fords, and out-manoeuvre so distinguished a young 
General with an army so well equipped for such a pursuit. 

The following account by an eye-witness who shared the 
fatigue of the campaign in these November and December 
months of 1776 will give the reader some idea of the harrow- 
ing experiences attending the retreat : 

*'As I was with the troops at Fort Lee and marched 
with them to the edge of Pennsylvania," he says, " I am 
well acquainted with many circumstances which those that 
live at a distance know little of. Our situation was exceed- 
ingly cramped, the place being a narrow neck of land 
between the North river and the Hackensack. Our force 
was not more than one-fourth of the enemy. Having no 
army at hand to relieve our garrison we shut ourselves up 
and stood on our defence. Our ammunition, light artillery 
and the best part of our stores had been removed on the 
apprehension that Howe would penetrate The Jerseys. In 
that case Fort Lee could be of no use to us : for such forts 
are only temporary defences to oppose the enemy. Such 
was our position at Fort Lee on November the 20th, when 
we learned that the enemy had arrived in 200 boats some 
miles above. Major- General Greene, who commanded the 
garrison, immediately ordered them to be ready for action 
and sent word to Washington, who was six miles away, at 
the town of Hackensack. Washington reached us in three- 
quarters of an hour and assumed command.- We marched 



RETREAT ACROSS THE JERSEYS. 109 

off along the Hackensack without any opposition from the 
enemy. We brought the chief part of our baggage with 
us. We had hopes to recruit on our march from Jersey to 
Pennsylvania States before we would make a stand against 
superior forces. We remained four days at Newark, col- 
lected our outposts and marched out twice to meet the 
enemy, whom we were informed were advancing, although 
our numbers were much inferior to theirs. Howe might 
have ruined us had Providence not guided our cause at this 
juncture. Cornwallis, who commanded the enemy's forces 
pursuing us, ceased in pursuit under directions from Howe 
at New Brunswick." Washington was at last, after many 
hair-breadth escapes, free from the intrepid pursuer, who 
often arrived at a bridge or ford which Washington after 
crossing had demolished. The entire forces at this time 
under Washington's command had been reduced by deser- 
tions and other causes to something like fourteen or fifteen 
lundred men. His army without much rest, devoid of the 
clothing necessary for the season — many of them were even 
barefooted (and it has been recorded that the blood-stained 
traces of their wounded feet could be traced along the rugged 
line of the march) — bore up wonderfully under their trials 
and displayed a noble courage. All their wishes were 
centred in one idea which was that the country would turn 
out and help them to drive back the enemy. The grand 
trait of Washington's character never showed to finer advan- 
tage than on this gloomy retreat. " There is," adds the nar- 
rative, ** a natural firmness in some minds which trifling 
experiences do not reveal. God had given to the great 
General a mind which only expanded to best advantage under 
the most trying circumstances. He never faltered or lost 
heart in his cause." He is said at this time when the 
horizon of his hopes were dark indeed to have expressed 
himself that ** in the last extremity he would withdraw to 
the mountains rather than disband his forces. His belief 
in the cause was so strong that he never lost dependence 



110 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

on the succour of the Lord of Hosts for final success." 
A Tory journal at this time likened the rebel army to a 
tribe of wandering Arabs who were mouldering away " like 
a rope of sand." Washington himself, writing to his 

brother on 18th December from his camp near the Falls of 
Trenton, said that " the perplexity of his situation was 
beyond conception. No man," he says, " ever had a greater 
choice of difficulties and less means to extricate himself 
from them. However, with a full persuasion of the justice 
of our cause, I cannot entertain an idea that it will finally 
sink, though it may remain for a time under a cloud." 

In reading over the historians in their narrative of this 
memorable retreat I have gleaned the following picture of 
these trying weeks, and we might say no pen-picture can 
do justice to the tragic scene enacted in The Jerseys in the 
winter of 1776. Many of Washington's soldiers had no 
other covering than a rifleman's frock of canvas over their 
shirts, and most of them were smitten with disease and 
swarming with vermin. 

The four weeks' bivouac in the open, with sleet and hail 
storms and long marches over roads untrodden, had well- 
nigh left the army in a state of half nudity. The appear- 
ance of those hardy, though famishing, frontier men in their 
ragged attire was such as even to excite the pity and 
commiseration of their well-fed foes as well as their panic- 
stricken compatriots. There was a tone of proud contempt 
among the Loyalists as those tattered and barefooted 
groups, miscalled battalions, tracked their weary way with 
fainting steps through rain and mud, carrying their gaudy 
and emblematic but bespattered banners. 

They carried little that might impede them lest their swift 
pursuer might overtake them, and the terror-stricken people 
of Jersey were afraid to supply their wants in food and 
clothing. Their appearance not alone gave boldness and 
courage to the Loyalists, but the half-hearted were in 
hundreds flocking into the enemy's camp and taking the 



RETREAT ACROSS THE JERSEYS. Ill 

oath of allegiance to the King of England. Desertions from 
the retreating ranks were daily occurring. In its rapid 
dispersion Washington's army might well be likened to a 
rope of sand. 

By the time the American troops reached the Delaware 
their condition was truly deplorable and their most inthnate 
friends would have failed to recognize them, with their 
parched and pinched cheeks and their ragged attire. 

The sick and the wounded were in many instances left 
to die in the villages as they passed along. Surgeons and 
surgical appliances and medicines were defective and almost 
at vanishing point in Washington's army at this time, 
although after the Alliance with France and when the 
organization was better ordered, the care and skill of the 
army doctors in the Eevolution elicited admiration from 
no less an authority than the surgeon who had charge of the 
hospitals and medical staff during Napoleon's wars — he him- 
self having served for a time in the American wars. 

To add to the agony of the situation the soldiers who were 
chiefly employed by Howe in The Jerseys were the Hessians, 
those mercenary corps shipped over from the petty princes 
of Germany to fight for George in a war which was so 
unpopular in England that all the influence of the Eoyal 
call to arms, all the patronage and power behind the War 
Minister, Lord North, all the gold that a corrupt cabinet 
could dangle before the nations could not induce sufficient 
levies to answer the call to fight against their American 
cousins. The Hessians had neither inclination nor know- 
ledge in the cause in which they fought. They had been 
coerced at home to enlist, their sovereign-lords receiving so 
much per head for each soldier supplied, so much for the 
wounded and so much for the dead. The poor automatic 
warriors knew nothing about the cause, were ignorant of 
the language, had but one desire and that was the practice 
of mercenaries in those days to rob and plunder and carry 
with them everything portable from the people as they 



112 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

passed along. These men, under their own officers, knew 
no distinction between Whig and Tory; both were alike 
despised by them. They caused the aversion of both parties 
in The Jerseys to the cause of Howe, although all seemed 
to submit to the conquering heroes as they proudly marched 
along, burning and pilfering the homes from which the 
people fled to the woods and the hills in terror of their lives, 
homeless and penniless. " They stripped the houses," says 
Trevelyan in his history of the Eevolution, " of every article 
of furniture, carried away what was portable, drove the 
cattle and sheep and horses before them into the English 
camp, and everything was stowed away in their knapsacks." 
Was it any wonder that those same Jersey farmers, with 
their wives and sons and daughters after the terror of the 
British and Hessian troops was removed and after Wash- 
ington had turned the tables at Trenton and Princeton on 
his foe, were to a man for their deliverer, Washington, and 
that until the end of the war there was no State that stood 
out more loyal to the cause than New Jersey? 



CHAPTER XI. 

Washington's Energy, Hopefulness and Plans for the 

Future Effectiveness of the Army : Battles 

OF Trenton and Princeton. 

During those trying weeks, when Washington saw his army 
melting away before his eyes and the enemy's ranks pro- 
portionately increasing, he never ceased exerting himself in 
the interests of his cause and country. He was writin; 
daily reports to Congress, which were read aloud to tht 
delegates. He was appealing to the State Governors for 
recruits and munitions of war, and above all he was most 
urgently and forcibly pointing out to the National Assembly 
the causes and the remedies for the late disasters that over- 
took their army since the victory at Boston. 



Battles of trenton and Princeton. US 

• 

In these communications to Congress Washington did 
not conceal from Congress the deplorable condition of their 
affairs, nor did he promise any success in the future unless 
speedy and effective remedies were adopted. He told them 
it was in vain to expect more than a trifling part of the 
army now serving to re-enlist on the old conditions, seeing 
that the enemy paid double the bounty and twice the pay, 
besides food and warm garments, that they offcered their 
recruits. *' You need not," he said, '* expect the men to 
join now as in the beginning of the war when the patriotic 
spirit was fervent. Men won't join our ranks and leave 
their farms and wives and families whilst others remain 
at home unless high inducements are offered." " It fol- 
lows," says he again, " that Congress should offer a bounty 
for enlistment, and the time limit should be for not less 
than a year. It is not to be expected that from militia 
coming in raw, undisciplined and inexperienced in drill and 
camp life, the same effective service can be obtained as 
from veterans. It takes time to drill and render effective 
new levies, and some limit must be put to the constant 
changing and coming and going of corps if we are to have 
a standing army to rely upon." He suggested that twenty 
dollars be given as a bounty to each man and a suit of 
clothes and blankets for service and a promise of 150 acres 
of land at the end of the war. He further recommended 
men of better position in life for officers : men of education, 
substance and military training, because the rank and file 
vvon't respect and obey officers selected as hitherto in some 
of the States by votes from the ranks. The officers around 
Boston were chosen to command by the votes of the militia. 
This was chiefly the case in the New England States. This 
democratic spirit is most laudable in civil government, but 
in military government it proves ineffective and makes in- 
evitable insubordination where order, discipline and obedi- 
ence should reign. He advocated higher pay for officers to 
enable them to live like gentlemen and to encourage men of 

H 



114 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

talent and position to compete for service. He tells them 
(the Congress) that their cause cannot build much hopes on 
militia. Men dragged from the tender scene of domestic 
life, unaccustomed to the din of arms and totally unaccus- 
tomed to any kind of military service, without any con- 
fidence in themselves when opposed to trained and dis- 
ciplined troops led by ofi&cers superior in knowledge and 
arms, because they are timid and ready to fly at their own 
shadow. To depend on such is like resting on a broken stick. 
Witness their flight at the approach of danger at New York. 
Witness the desertion of these same militia since the retreat 
from Harlem. 

Sickness also enters easily among new levies of raw 
recruits untrained to camp life. You cannot banish the 
fever of home sickness from their minds, and they are with 
difficulty brought under discipline and military rule. The 
bad example such temporary recruits give to the ranks has 
a vicious effect on the martial spirit that should permeate 
an army. In fine, short service enlistment must be 
abolished : they must build up a permanent army to last 
till the end of the war. He tells them that the time for 
exjDcrimenting is over and their army on the point of ex- 
tinction. They must set about its re-organization at once. 
Congress was up till this time very reluctant to give the 
Commander-in-Chief a free hand for the successful prosecu- 
tion of the war. He complained to them about the round- 
about way in which he was compelled to execute his wishes 
and commands. There was too much red-tapeism, and 
he was being hampered by having to carry out his commands 
through Governors for their States and Congress for the 
Union. He could neither reward merit nor directly raise 
levies, and both these defects he pressed upon the considera- 
tion of Congress. 

Congress was beginning at the ninth hour to become alive 
to the nature of the crisis the nation had to make provision 



BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON. Il5 

for, and just before the battle of Trenton endowed the Com- 
mander with dictatorial and unlimited powers for six months. 
Congress, it may be here recorded, does not during those 
trying years get credit for the highest wisdom or statesman- 
ship by posterity. This may in part be attributed to the 
fact that they did not aid and assist and co-operate with 
Washington in fair and foul weather during his arduous 
campaign Sometimes they gave too much latitude to 
faction. Sometimes they were too slow in coming to the 
aid of the General financially and otherwise. But at this 
time and for the years that followed 1777 the best men 
were not in Congress and rarely were more than twenty or 
twenty-five assembled in Congress to carry out the wishes 
of the Confederacy. The best men, like Franklin, were 
away interceding at foreign courts or acting as Governors 
over their own States or serving here and there as officers 
over the Union or carrying out in other places the executive 
part of the Congress work. Those who attended Congress 
regularly, like Ixobert Morris, Charles Thompson and John 
Adams, were over-worked and badly remunerated. For 
weeks at a time these delegates worked daily from eight 
o'clock in the morning till five in the evening without 
one moment's intermission. Hence history should not be 
too severe on the acts of Congress. The motives that actu- 
ated these patriots cannot be impugned, and it redounds 
to their credit that, with Washington seemingly a fugitive 
before the swift-footed Cornwallis and the cause steeped 
in a gloom beyond conception, Congress should resolve that 
they "relied on his patriotism and wisdom, vigour and 
uprighteousness. That he be empowered to raise additional 
regiments of artillery and a corps of engineers and to call 
upon any of the States for such aid of the militia as he 
should deem necessary, to displace and appoint all officers 
beneath the rank of Brigadier-General, to take at a fair price 
all supplies and equipments required for the use of his 
army, and to send for. trial to the magistrates disaffected per- 



116 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

sons opposed to their cause." Time was precious to Wash- 
ington at this juncture. He saw that a mighty effort must 
be made, not alone to recruit an army strong enough to 
cope with Howe in the spring after his winter rest, but also 
to bring about at once some successful action against the 
enemy to raise the drooping spirits of his men, to assist the 
States in enlisting recruits and to undo the work that Corn- 
wallis had effected in paralyzing in his march to the Dela- 
ware, the Jerseys and part of Pennsylvania. The successes 
of the British arms had put new life into the Loyalists, and 
Washington was, at a moment when his plight was deplor- 
able, planning for a bold attack to retrieve the fortunes of 
war. Long Island, New York, the loss of Forts Washing- 
ton and Lee and the retreat over the Jerseys were disasters 
that brought gloom and despondency to the mind of the 
nation. What was it possible, humanly speaking, for him 
to accomplish in the depth of winter that would arouse the 
dying hopes of his army and country? Washington, in the 
midst of all the gloom, was silently planning the memorable 
victories of Trenton and Princeton, whilst the British Com- 
manders were feasting sumptuously and carousing and re- 
joicing over their victories. Howe and Cornwallis had taken 
up their winter quarters at New York. The latter General, 
had his superior Howe allowed him to continue his success- 
ful march in pursuit of Washington, would have continued 
his victories and march until Philadelphia had been reached 
and in all likelihood he would have forced the capital of the 
nation to yield and at the same time have compelled the 
General and his dwindling corps to fly to the highlands above 
the Congressional city ; but Howe recalled the noble soldier 
and by the withdrawal of the high pressure of Cornwallis on 
his rear, Washington got breathing space for reflection and 
time also to allow the army of General Lee to join his own 
under the leadership of General John Sullivan. When 
Washington was retreating across The Jerseys he from time 
to time sent urgent messages to General Lee, who com- 



BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON. 117 

manded between three and four thousand troops to hasten 
forward and join him. Lee did nothing to expedite matters. 
On the contrary, he made no secret that Washington to his 
mind was an incompetent Commander. He kept constantly 
undermining his authority, disregarding his directions, com- 
plaining to Generals and Congress about his faults and want 
of success. He advocated three independent commands in 
the American army, one to the North, one to the. East and 
Washington's. Lee was all the time from the commence- 
ment of hostilities working for his own honour and glory; 
the honour of the American cause was with him a secondary 
consideration. His procrastination and intriguing resulted 
in his capture by the enemy. Fortunately for Washington 
the capture took place in a farmhouse where Lee was lodg- 
ing for the night, away some miles from his army. Sullivan 
was next in command, and this brave Celtic soldier lost 
no time in assuming leadership, and by marches four times 
faster than Lee's, he hurried the well-rested troops to the 
Delaware and joined the Commander-in-Chief before 
Christmas. 

Washington was soon to have his reward, and I cannot 
refrain in this place from quoting a beautiful passage from 
Trevelyan's " American Eevolution." 

** A Commander," says the historian, " patient and in- 
trepid in adversity and silent under calamity, who never 
attempts to gloss over his reverses or to explain away his 
mistakes, reaps the reward of his honesty and self-control 
tenfold and a hundredfold when out of the cloud of gloom 
and peril success at length comes. No one then questions 
the truth as he tells it in his despatches. Men are inclined 
to overrate rather than depreciate and to decry the advan- 
tages he has gained and few grudge the full credit of victory 
to a General who has always accepted the entire responsi- 
bility for faction." Even the enemies of Washington look 
upon the success on the banks of the Delaware under such 
adverse circumstances as the greatest achievement of the 



118 LIFE OF WASHIGTON. 

Revolution. Cornwallis, replying to a toast given by his 
captors after Yorkton, said that when the illustrious part 
that Washington bore in this long and arduous contest 
becomes matter of history, fame will gather his brightest 
laurels rather from the banks of the Delaware than from 
those of fhe Chesapeake. Washington was aware, after 
Cornwallis had returned to New York, prior to his intended 
trip to England to report his success to the ministry, that 
some fifteen hundred Hessian and English soldiers were 
camped at Trenton. He determined to surprise them by 
a bold stroke of generalship. He was resolved to strike 
a blow that would bring joy and hope to his army and their 
cause. Accordingly about midnight on Christmas Eve he 
divided his forces into three parts, with the first of which, 
led by Greene and Sullivan, he proposed to cross the Dela- 
ware, some nine miles above Trenton, and fall down on the 
Hessian Commander, Ralle, before daybreak. The second 
and third divisions were to land nearer Trenton and meet 
the enemy fleeing from the town. The plan was admirable, 
but owing to the insurmountable obstacles presented by the 
Delaware river, the second and third parts of the plan failed. 
The British Generals in their winter quarters had little idea 
that the rebel forces would rally to attack them at any 
point during such inclement weather. Howe was commis- 
sioning his favourite General to inform Lord North that the 
war was as good as ended, and that the people were again 
renewing their fealty to the Crown. Little did they think 
that the darkest hour in the cause of freedom was a prelude 
to the dawn and that before the New Year should be ushered 
in the name and fame of the Eabian Commander would be 
far above the renown of Howe and on a par with the greatest 
Generals in history. 

It was at the hour of midnight that Washington led across 
the frozen and turbulent river, in snow and sleet, with a 
boisterous current carrying blocks of ice in its course, and 
in open boats, an army of 2,500 men. The night was 



BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON, 119 

bitterly cold and the brave men in their threadbare apparel 
were blinded by snow-drift and bitten by the frost. One or 
two men perished from cold. Yet in the midst of the many 
obstacles the well-manned fleet of river boats, without con- 
fusion or without one of the number being driven back or 
carried by the river off its course, reached the Trenton shore, 
thanks to the guiding Providence in whom Washington 
always trusted, and thanks to the skill and dogged determi- 
nation of the officers, men and their brave Commander. 
This achievement of Washington is considered, under the 
circumstances in which it was carried out, as the most 
remarkable military exploit recorded in history, a greater 
feat even than transporting some months previously 10,000 
troops from Brooklyn to New York in the teeth of the land 
and naval forces of the enemy. His army was melting 
away from fatigue and hunger. He was depending on militia 
corps discontented and soon about to disband as their term 
of enlistment expired. We must not forget also that the 
troops were in part without boots and winter garments. 
Much delay was encountered in this expedition by crossing 
over the artillery, manned by that brave Ulsterman, General 
Knox. It was eight in the morning before Washington 
reached Trenton. He himself led in person and marched 
into the town by the upper road. General Sullivan, with 
a division of the 2,400 picked men selected for the attack 
on Ralle's camp, took the lower road. The attack on 
Trenton was so judiciously planned and so secretly and 
quietly executed that the advance guard of Washington's 
main army was driving in the outposts and shooting down 
the sentries before the alarm reached the British Commander 
in Trenton that the Americans had surrounded them. 
Colonel Ralle, a brave, jovial Hessian soldier, who was in 
command, was informed by a messenger, and the can- 
nonading of the artillery by Knox, who did not spare his 
ammunition as he opened fire on the enemy from the main 
approach to the town. Ealle, half-dazed from a night's 



120 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

drinking, rushed out from the card-table in hot haste, 
mounted his horse and most courageously exhorted his 
frightened troops to rally to the call of duty. It was too 
late. The British artillery was rendered useless from the 
first; the Americans made all thoroughfares impossible by 
shot and shell, and Colonel Ealle was quite unable to enthuse 
his affrighted soldiers. All was soon over when the British 
Commander fell mortally wounded in front of his troops. 
Panic became general. Those of the enemy who could 
escaped towards Princeton. There were at least a thousand 
between killed, wounded and captured of the enemy put out 
of action, the remaining few hundreds made good their 
escape to Princeton. Six cannons, 1,000 stand of arms and 
four colours became the trophies of the victors. The victory 
was complete, and not a single soldier would have escaped 
had the other two detachments assigned to Colonels Irwin 
and Cadwallader been equally successful. The swollen river 
however and floating ice were barriers too powerful for these 
brave men, and hence the avenue for retreat was open for 
the fugitives who, to the number of 500, fled to Princeton. 
A beautiful trait in the character of Washington was evinced 
in his visit of sympathy when he paid a token of civility to 
the brave, though unfortunate. Commander, Colonel Ealle, 
who did not long survive the fatal wound he received. 

The report of Washington's glorious victory at Trenton 
had a wonderful effect on the American nation at a time 
when defeat after defeat seemed dogging the army, the 
victorious British fast advancing across the Jerseys when 
Congress for security had retreated to Baltimore and the 
citizens of Philadelphia were panic-stricken and subdued by 
the presence of unfriendly Hessians and bantering Loyalists 
who held sway in the city. And yet the time of jubilation 
was changed to a note of sadness when a thousand prisoners 
from Trenton arrived under guard of American soldiers. 
Washington's army, at this time after the Trenton victory, 
did not amount to more than 4,000 able-bodied men. This 



BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON. 121 

number was a fair index of the hopelessness of the short ser- 
vice system and an indication to Congress that a standing 
army, as suggested by Washington, was the only hope that 
their cause would reach success. The astonishment of the 
British Commander was extreme, as he learned in the midst 
of his joviality at New York of the unexpected exploit. The 
cause of the army of Washington was considered so hopeless 
that Cornwallis and Howe in their proclamations had just 
granted the rebel Americans sixty days of grace to return 
to their allegiance to His Most Gracious Majesty George HI., 
to unconditionally surrender and then accept pardon as 
repentant rebels. Washington and the patriots who fought 
under him considered they had committed no offence and 
needed no pardon. Trenton was the answer he flung in the 
face of his adversaries. Some one has said truly that cam- 
paigns and battles are as much won by the errors of the 
one side as by the courage and skill of the other. The 
victory of Trenton is a case in point, although such Fabian 
tactics, backed up by such undying patriotism as those 
warriors who crossed the Delaware displayed, could not 
brook defeat. The watchword of Washington's army was 
" Victory or death." Hence we may well compare them 
with the bravest of the brave who ever rushed upon a foe 
to our Irish heroes at Fontenoy or the Bridge of Athlone. 
Although the feat of the Trenton Light Brigade was glorious 
from the completeness of the victory and the fewness of 
the numbers lost, not more than half-a-dozen were lost in 
dead and wounded. 

The victory of Trenton drew Howe from his winter quarters 
on Staten Island and prevented Cornwallis from setting sail 
for Europe. It was a rude awakening for those proud Eng- 
lish Generals, and the glowing pictures they penned to 
London about the autumn campaigns and the certainty that 
the war would be ended in the spring of 1777, had now to 
be somewhat modified. The smouldering embers of American 
patriotism in the depth of winter had flashed into a 



122 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

dangerous flame. New vigour had taken hold of the patriot's 
breast. Trenton must be avenged, and in hot haste Lord 
Cornwallis was ordered to proceed to the scene of victory and 
overpower Washington. 

On the morning of the 2nd of January the two armies 
were facing each other outside Trenton, being only 
separated by a narrow creek, well guarded by American 
artillery placed opposite the bridge which spanned the 
Assunpeak river. It was at last beginning to dawn upon 
the British Generals that it was no novice-in-arms they had 
encountered in Washington. All Europe had already ad- 
mitted his Fabian skill in tactics and generalship. To 
keep an army together for so long under such chilling 
disasters and in face of such well-equipped forces, to emerge 
from such a retreat in the depth of winter as if from 
annihilation, to capture by a bold and hazardous attack 
over a thousand veterans with a famished and untrained 
militia, and thus turn a retreat into victory, showed th" 
highest form of military genius. Trenton meant much to 
the American cause. It was equally vital to the British. 
If the rising hopes of the young Republicans were not at 
once crushed, the tide of victory that had hitherto flowr:;d 
and gained volume as it coursed from the Hudson to the Dela- 
ware with the British arms would soon recede and transfer 
itself to the American ranks. Washington was in command 
of 4,000 men. Cornwallis had a force opposite him and 
coming up by stages in his rear of about 8,000. On the 
morning of the 3rd January a battle seemed inevitable and 
the American General was to all appearance in the net of 
his opponent. Had Cornwallis in the least doubted that — 
as he said to an officer who advocated an attack on the night 
of the 2nd — on the morrow he would safely " bag the 
fox," he would not have slept so soundly in his camp whilst 
the American fox was, unknown to him, eluding his senti- 
nels, But it was not conceivable how Washington could 



BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON. 123 

,either cross the Delaware or escape to tlie HiolUands, 
hemmed in as he was by such a powerful enemy. 

Cornwallis then did not reckon upon the possibility of a 
retreat under cover of the night, which was in fact the course 
decided upon after a covmcil of war had been held in the 
American camp. A cannonade to distract the enemy was 
kept up whilst workmen were by the light of their camp 
fires entrenching and strengthening the fortifications as if 
in preparation for to-morrow's encounter. Whilst the 
cannons pealed and the picks and spades rattled and the 
torches blazed, Washington had packed up and sent off his 
waggons and stores by a circuitous route towards Burlington, 
whilst noiselessly before the very eyes of the enemy he 
marched off his entire forces. The movement was perfectly 
executed, and as Cornwallis began to reconnoitre, when the 
winter sun cleared off the morning mist, he saw to his 
astonishment a deserted camp with the fox gone " he knew 
not where." However as the patriots neared Princeton 
they encountered some detachments of the enemy who were 
hastening towards the camp of Cornwallis, and the cannon- 
ading that took place in the encounter pointed the way and 
at once Cornwallis was in pursuit. He had fears that 
Washington was hastening to capture the magazines at 
Brunswick where the British stores were located. 

Washington had made sure that his retreat should not 
end in failure. He had his stores sent off to a place of 
security, higher up off the main route. He also led his 
forces by an unaccustomed route, known to himself and his 
men, but little known to the British General. At Princeton 
there were three regiments resting for the night en route 
to join Cornwallis at Trenton. Two of these detachments 
boldly engaged the army of Washington as it approached. 
The advanced guard of the American army under General 
Mercer attacked the first of these divisions, but the British 
bayonets caused a rout among the rustic army and the 
frightened militia fled in confusion. At this juncture 



124 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Washington himself appeared upon the scene at the head 
of the main body. He succeeded in rallying the flying 
squadron and boldly gave the lead to the united forces him- 
self leading in the charge. This decisive action of the 
general soon turned the tide of battle and the enemy was 
routed and the town of Princeton surrounded. The regi- 
ment of three hundred camped in this place was overpowered 
and soon surrendered as prisoners of war, and thus ended 
the second memorable victory for Washington in this cam- 
paign. TBe American loss in the battles of Trenton and 
Princeton was trifling in all, not more than fifty in killed 
and wounded. The British in these two campaigns lost in 
prisoners and slain 1,500, and amongst them some generals 
who had given a good account of themselves both on Long 
Island and across the Hudson. The most notable loss on 
the American side was Dr. Mercer, a personal friend of the 
general, a neighbour of his from the Potomac, one who 
nursed him in his sickness in the colonial wars and as brave 
a soldier as fought in the cause of freedom. General Mercer, 
who led in the van of Washington's army on the morning of 
his memorable escape from Assunpeak, was a man of mature 
age. He had served as surgeon in Prince Charles' army 
at Culloden as he had served in the army of the ill-fated 
Braddock during the Indian raid. The troops he com- 
manded at Princeton were unworthy of their general. They 
deserted him whilst he fought and fell covered with 
wounds. Washington was much aftected at the loss of so 
brave a soldier and so true a friend. Washington's forces 
were not in a fit condition to engage in a renewal of hostili- 
ties from the fast advancing fresh troops of Cornwallis. The 
swift-footed British General lost no time in his pursuit, 
leaving the heavy train to follow he overtook the tail end 
of the American army as they had just crossed one of those 
many bridges that spanned a fast-running river. A brave 
Irishman named Kelly acted an heroic part on this occasion 
by remaining behind the army and in face of the advancing 



BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON. 125 

enemy demolishing the bridge, sticking to his post until the 
last plank was thrown into the river regardless of the bullets 
that whizzed around him. By this action the main force 
of Cornwallis was retarded until Washington was well on his 
course up towards Morristown in the Jersey Highlands. 

Although Cornwallis urged his troops to ford the river 
up to the neck in water, it was all to no purpose, for by 
a circuitous and woodland route the American General was 
pushing on to his retreat at Morristown, where his bare- 
footed, cold and hungry troops could rest among friendly 
hills and kind neighbours until the winter should be passed. 
And thus ended the memorable campaign of the winter of 
1776 and 1777. 

The old spirit of reckless bravery for which Washington 
on that memorable day became famous among the officers 
and aides-de-camp of Braddock seized him at Trenton and 
Princeton. Every historian of these battles makes special 
mention of his fearless leadership and personal bravery. 
He not alone set a good example to his army, but he made 
them fearful for his safety and impressed them that he had 
a charmed life, and that he was specially protected from 
the bullets of the enemy by Providence. He led in each 
of these engagements, was exposed to all the perils of the 
field, leading in person in the most dangerous situations, 
plunging, as at Princeton, into the hottest fire, and by his 
own personal valour animating his troops. Upham, his bio- 
grapher, speaking of the battle of Princeton, says : " That 
one of his officers thus wrote about his action : * Our army 
love the General very much, but they have one thing 
against him which is the little care he takes of himself in 
any action. His personal bravery and the desire he has of 
animating his troops by example ixiake him fearless of 
danger. But Heaven, which has hitherto been his shield, I 
hope, will continue to guard so valuable a life.' " We may 
make no apology for inserting here the substance of a 
letter written by Colonel John Fitzgerald, aide-de-camp to 



126 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Washington, a brave Irish officer who distinguished himself 
in the Eevolution war. This aide-de-camp had been ordered 
to bring up the troops from the rear when the section under 
General Mercer became engaged. Upon returning to the 
spot where he had left the Commander-in-Chief he could 
not see him ; on looking round he discovered him endeavour- 
ing to rally the line which had been thrown into disorder by 
a rapid onset of the foe. Washington, after several un- 
successful attempts to restore order, is seen to run up his 
horse with his head to the enemy and in that position to 
become immovable. It was a last appeal to his army and 
seemed to say will you give up your General to the foe? 
Such an appeal was not made in vain. The discomfited 
Americans rally on the instant and form into line. The 
American Chief is between the adverse posts as if he had 
been placed there a target for both. Can escape from death 
be possible? Fitzgerald, horror-stricken at the danger of 
his beloved Commander, dropped his reins upon his horse's 
neck and drew his hat over his face that he might not see 
him die. A roar of musketry succeeds and then a shout. 
It was the shout of victory. The aide-de-camp ventures to 
raise his eyes and, oh, glorious sight, the enemy are broken 
and flying, whilst dimly amid the glimpses of smoke is seen 
the Chief alive, unharmed and without a wound, waving his 
hat and cheering his soldiers to pursuit. The warm-hearted 
son of Ireland rushed to his side and with joy exclaimed : 
" Thank God, your Excellency is safe," and then wept with 
joy like a child, although a man of military courage, a man 
of thew and muscle. The General, calm amid the din of 
arms, affectionately grasped the kind-hearted soldier by the 
hand, and then gave his ol'ders, saying: " Away, my dear^ 
Colonel, and bring up the troops, the day is our own." 



THE general's HANDS STRENGTHENED. 127 



CHAPTER XII. 

The General's Hands Strengthened. 

Congress had, as we have seen, communicated its instruc- 
tions in obedience to the implied request of Washington 
for more powers conferring upon him almost unlimited 
authority in the reorganization of the army. These powers 
were to last for six months. The notification of the 
decision had been made known to the different States 
through the National Secretary. In acknowledging the 
powers conferred by Congress upon him, Washington wrote : 
* I find you have done me the honour to entrust me with 
powers in my military capacity of the highest nature and 
almost unlimited in extent. Instead of thinking myself 
freed from all civil obligation by this mark of your con- 
fidence I shall constantly bear in mind that as the sword 
was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, 
so it ought to be the first thing laid aside when those liber- 
ties are firmly established. I shall instantly set about 
making the most necessary reforms in the army, but it will 
not be in my power to make so great progress as if I had a 
little leisure time upon my hands." The general was busily 
engaged during the months following his encampment at 
Morristown making provision for the summer campaign, and 
although he made superhuman efforts to raise the necessary 
recruits for a standing army, he was not unmindful of the 
necessity of keeping an eye upon the enemy. His object 
was to harass the outposts of the enemy by flying squadrons, 
to make it unsafe for their foraging parties to go outside 
their lines. He had also to keep alive the good spirits and 
hopeful resolve of his troops. He had to placate the Tories 
and make enthusiastic in his cause the inhabitants in Jersey 



128 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

and Pennsylvania and the country over which Cornwallis 
some time previous had marched like a conquering 
hero and whom the mercenary Hessians had most wantonly 
and indiscri. ninately robbed and hunted by their cruel 
depredations. In achieving these objects Washington soon 
reached the hearts of the harassed New Jersey farmers. 
When he captured at Trenton one thousand soldiers, he 
proclaimed their stolen property was to be restored to all 
who established claims to its possession. By this act 
of justice he converted the waverers, the fearful and all 
the Whigs to active agents in his cause, and active and 
loyal New Jersey remained until the end of the Revolution. 
He succeeded in harassing the English army to such an 
extent that Cornwallis, who was in command outside New 
York, could not procure food nor clothing nor any proven- 
der, horses, cattle or recruits. He was compelled to draw 
in his ranks and keep alive for the hourly attacks of the 
farmer volunteers who were determined to revenge the 
wrongs they and their families endui'ed in October and 
November of 1776. It became well known to Congress and 
the Commander of the American army that the war party 
was powerful and active in England at this time. The hope 
of the King and his ministry was that the forces they should 
command in the spring in America should enable Howe in 
a short summer campaign to successfully subjugate the 
rebel forces. Reconciliation was not "now advocated by 
any strong party in England. Subjugation and annexation 
was the goal of policy. Before the arrival of the news of 
Trenton and Princeton there did not up to March, 1777, 
seem to be any doubt about the result in the anxious minds 
of the British Cabinet. However fresh supplies of men and 
immense cargoes of stores and sinews of war were pouring 
in to the British army. Ninety thousand tons of freight 
for the upkeep of the army were shipped every month from 
England over a perilous sea, dangerous for sailing vessels 
and hazardous owing to the numbers of American piratical 



THE general's hands STRENGTHENED. 129 

frigate vessels iu the service of Congress that hovered along 
the seaboard from Maine to Georgia. The relative strength 
of the contending armies since the beginning of 1776 is 
thus tabulated from authentic sources (English) : 





British 


America 


1776, Aug. 


24,000 


16,000 


,, Nov. 


26,000 


4,500 


,, Dec. 


27,000 


3,300 


1777, Mar. 


29,000 


4,500 


,, Jun. 


30,000 


8,000 



Congress, knowing from the Commander-in-Chief the con- 
dition of the army and its complete inability to cope Vi^ith 
the enemy, wrote thus officially to Washington: " It is the 
desire of Congress to make the army under Washington's 
immediate control and independent of militia for local 
defence so strong that not only may it be able to curb and 
confine the enemy within their present quarters and prevent 
their drawing support of any kind from the country, but 
that by the divine blessing may totally subdue them before 
they can be reinforced." 

The different States did not at first respond to the repre- 
sentations and exhortations of Congress, and it was summer 
before the continental forces were sufficiently strong to 
wage aggressive warfare. 

Although Howe was enjoying repose with his well- 
equipped and comfortably camped army at New York and 
Brunswick, he was not entirely unemployed. England ex- 
pected great things from their trusted Commander. She 
had not been niggardly with him either in men, money or 
fleet to protect him. For two years she had been covering 
the Atlantic with cargoes for his army, emptying the Ex- 
chequer to buy mercenaries in Germany, and great achieve- 
ments were expected from such a veteran army officered by 
brave Generals. The nation behind the army had rallied 
wonderfully. The English always do pull together when 



130 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

they are placed in a tight corner, and it seemed, contrary to 
expectations, that the rustic rebels were neither novices with 
their rifles nor laggards in defending their country. Was 
it possible that after two years' fighting and sounding 
trumpets and issuing of proclamations, that this mighty 
army, the most powerful ever sent over the seas from 
England, that now in the spring, 1777, thirty thousand 
efficient troops ready for action were practically cribbed 
and confined along the Eastern seaboard, unable to procure 
food for man or horse unless by surprise raids and with 
much damage to the scouting parties engaged. Such, how- 
ever, was the true picture as narrated by all chroniclers of 
the war. Nor were the greatest soldiers and statesmen then 
living surprised. The great Pitt told the war party in his 
place in Parliament that it was impossible to conquer 
America. Frederick of Prussia, now grown venerable with 
the weight of years and the laurels of many victories, con- 
sidered that " England had entered on a hopeless task, and 
he was confident that the colonies would maintain their 
Independence." Howe, from some inexplicable cause, did 
no effective work to end the war for over six months after 
the battle of Princeton, However he kept an e^^e on the 
operations of the American forces, and at two jDoints where 
the Americans had collected stores he despatched contin- 
gents to attack the garrisons and carry off or destroy the 
provisions and stores. With five hundred troops he routed a 
garrison fifty miles up the Hudson and destroyed the effects 
and stores, and at Danbur}^ in Connecticut he with 2,000 
troops dispersed the garrison and demolished the stores col- 
lected. In this latter operation Generals Sullivan, Arnold 
and Worster, the latter of whom was killed, hotly pursued 
them and many on both sides were slain. 

Washington made a successful surprise raid on the stores 
on Long Island by way of retaliation, and the Colonel in 
command of the expedition was presented by Congress with 

sword for his bravery. 



FOREIGN AID AKD SYMPATHY. 131 

CHAPTER XIII. 

FoREtGN Aid and Sympathy. 

In the spring of 1777 the location of the two forces was as 
follows : Washington was stationed at IMorristown. Bur- 
goyne had reached Canada with the army destined to meet its 
defeat at Saratoga in the autumn. Howe was at the head 
of the main army in and around New York. How was 
Washington to meet his adversaries with sufficient strength 
before the summer ? His own powers were, as we saw, un- 
limited, but these powers had to be backed up by a loyal 
people enthusiastic in the cause by the individual States 
acting through their Governors and committees and co- 
operating with Congress, and both Congress and States 
loyally co-operating with the Commander-in-Chief. 

There were no lack of brave and patriotic men in every 
State in the Union during the Ke volution crisis. The two 
Adams and Turbill, Hancock and the Sullivans were giants 
in their native New England, and New England was true 
to the Union and the General from the day the first shot was 
fired at Bunker's Hill until Cornwallis laid dow^n his arms 
at Yorktown and until Greene a year after had subdued the 
Southern States. There were Franklin and Jefferson and 
Patrick Henry and Robert Morris, Lynch and Carroll and 
Rutledge and Livington and JMcKean and Clinton, men who 
'did giant work as organizers of their respective States as 
'Governors, men who by voice and pen in Senate and by pam- 
phlet aided the General, spurred on the work of recruiting, 
collected ammunitions of war and begged and borrowed that 
the war might be pushed forward and their Independence 
asserted. The resources of the nation were sorely tried. 
To defray the expense of a standing army and keep up a local 



132 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

militia soon exhausted the war chest, never very full. Paper 
bills were issued to be paid lor by cash at the end of three 
jears. Merchants refused to sell their ware for the certi- 
ticates, and thus these bills depreciated to an alarming 
extent. Before the end of the war they became practically 
useless in exchange. At this critical time it came to the 
ears of Congress, from a friendly source, that France would 
stand the friend of the iVmericau cause. They were not 
unmindful of the loss of Canada, nor had they forgiven their 
old rival who under Pitt had lowered their prestige by land 
and sea. Franklin in the autumn of 1776 was sent by Con- 
gress as a Commissioner to France to negotiate loans and 
purchase stores and arms in Paris for the army. Arthur 
Lee and Silas Deane were joined with this Leviathan among 
diplomats, now in his seventieth year, as American com- 
missioners at the court of Louis of France. France received 
them graciously and their mission had promise of much suc- 
cess from many quarters. King Louis, however, was too 
timid and wary to openly espouse their cause. The old 
ministers of Versailles were unwilling to advise a rupture 
with England. The Canadian wars and the other operations 
in which they had lately been embroiled, had impoverished 
them and they were overtaxing themselves to keep up the 
credit of the nation. The young generation had more radical 
opinions than either the King or his advisers. Even some 
of the scions of the best families held republican ideas and 
were spurring on the King and his ministers to openly 
espouse the American cause. Hence we find the young 
jMarquis De Lafayette asking permission, \vhich the French 
Cabinet refused, to raise an army in the name of France and 
embark for service in the army of Washington. He did 
however buy a ship with his own private means and enlist 
volunteers, leave his young and beautiful wife, who by the 
way was a great favourite with Marie Antoinette, and against 
the wishes of his friends, sailed for the theatre of war, and 
soon after landing in the Southern States proceed to Phila- 



FOREIGN AID AND SYMPATHY. 133 

delphia and afterwards present himself before Washington, 
where he gained the affection of the Chief and was raised by 
him to the rank of general. The part Lafayette played in 
the Eevolution was most honourable and distinguished, and 
the prestige of his name was of no small account in the sub- 
sequent stages of the war and the weight of his influence 
and his influential friends did much to further the cause of 
America in France and at other European courts. Many 
other noblemen of distinction came over from Europe to 
fight in the army of liberty under Washington. Amongst 
the most distinguished of these was Thaddeus Kosciusko, an 
illustrious Polish patriot, born in 1746, a scion of an ancient 
and noble family. The cause of his own country having 
become hopeless, he with that other heroic Pole, Count 
Pulaski, set out from Paris to fight for American liberty. 
When Koscuisko presented himself before Washington he 
was asked what could he do. His answer savoured little 
of the mercenary. ** I come," said he, " to fight as a volun- 
teer for American liberty. Try me." The Commander 
appointed him one of his aides. Afterwards he was made 
Colonel of the Engineers and in this capacity rendered 
valuable help at Saratoga. It was he that engineered the 
fortifications at West Point on the banks of the Hudson, a 
fortress that the English General Clinton was prepared to 
pay the infamous Arnold £10,000 for betraying. A monu- 
ment stands to his memory at this fortress, erected by the 
grateful American nation. When the American cause had 
triumphed he returned to his native Poland and became 
Commander of the national forces in the insurrection against 
Russia. When his army was overcome in 1794 he was taken 
prisoner and held in captivity until the death of Catherine II. 
The successor of Catherine, Paul II., released him, and the 
year Washington ceased to be President of the Eepublic 
saw him revisiting the scenes of his former campaigns in 
America. Congress honoured him and presented him with 
a handsome gift for his services in their cause. For a time 



134 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

he lived at Fontainbleau, cultivating his farm; later he 
passed into Switzerland to end his honoured days in peace. 
He died at the age of seventy-one years as the result of a 
fall from his horse. He was a brave soldier and a sterling 
patriot and tried and true friend of liberty. Many other 
soldiers of distinction and great name entered the ranks after 
the first and second years of the war. Baron De Kalb and 
Baron Steuben, both distinguished soldiers, were honoured 
with commands in the American ranks, and in several 
engagements displayed much fearless valour. The former 
fell at Camden literally riddled with wounds, having made 
a hopeless stand after the pusillanimous Gates had taken 
flight at the head of his routed troops. He was almost 
seventy years old when he joined the American cause, an 
Alsatian by birth, who had given long and useful service to 
his native France, both as a soldier and an administrator in 
the army under the Due de Choiseul. This old veteran has 
left on record his opinion of Washington and Congress. 
" General Washington is the most valiant and upright of men. 
All the abuses in the American armj^ are attributable to the 
meddling of Congress, nor had he any hope of improvement 
except through the vigorous interposition of the Commander- 
in-Chief." One abuse this old soldier, who fought through 
the Seven Years' Wars, noticed in the war. " It was not 
uncommon," said he, " to find an officer at the moment of 
an engagement quitting his regiment and remaining away 
in a neighbouring town or a tavern hard by until the affair 
was ended." Many such officers helped to swell the 
chorus of faction against the Commander, known as the 
"Conway Cabal." Steuben became, shortly after his 
arrival in Washington's camp, Inspector-General of the 
Army, a position which General Conway, a Hibernico-French 
soldier of fortune, held before him. The Baron was an 
early riser, strict disciplinarian and a hard worker. He 
made marvellous changes in the ranks amongst both officers 
and men, and before he was many months in his new post 



FOREIGN x\ID AND SYMPATHY. 135 

had infused a military air in manoeuvring and precision in 
manual exercise and marching that was unknown hitherto 
in the American ranks. 

Those soldiers of fortune who came in large numbers from 
Europe, chiefly recommended by the French Minister of 
War, some by Mr. Deane, American Commissioner at Paris, 
and some with letters of passport to Congress and the Com- 
mander-in-Chief from Franklin, were in many instances a 
cause of embarrassment to the General. " They seldom," 
says Washington, "bring more than a commission and a 
passport which we know may belong to a bad as well as a 
good officer. Their ignorance of our language and their in- 
ability to recruit men are insurmountable obstacles to their 
being engrafted in our continental battalions, for our ofi&cers 
who have raised their men and have served through the war 
upon pay that has not hitherto borne their expenses would 
be disgusted if foreigners were put over their heads; and 
I assure you few or none of these gentlemen look lower than 
field officers' commissions." He then adds that some 
mode of disposing of them must be adopted, as many of 
the above class of men were kept in suspense unattached to 
any corps. Congress however in many instances sent at 
their own expense these volunteers back to their own 
country; it was thus they treated a number who accom- 
panied Lafayette. Washington himself stuck out boldly 
against the intrusion of one Monsieur Ducondray, who had 
been told By Mr. Deane to expect the rank of Major-General 
to disgrade General Knox as head of the artillery. Of Knox 
Washington wrote to Congress at this time as follows: " A 
man of great military reading, sound judgment and clear 
perceptions. He has conducted the affairs of that depart- 
ment with honour to himself and advantage to the public, 
and will resign if anyone is pvit over him." From this pro- 
test made by Washington in the winter of 1777 Congress 
resolved that no commissions to foreign officers should be 
considered as entitling their holders to be received in the 



136 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

continental army until Washington should countersign and 
date them. It is not to be inferred from these protests 
against foisting soldiers of fortune from foreign parts and 
chiefl}^ from Paris upon him that he was adverse to help 
from France. On the contrary, it was his studied aim to 
enlist the French and European powers on his side and 
he made many sacrifices to show the French troops how 
much he appreciated their land and sea assistance. In 
making harmony among his own troops and officers and the 
French officers he used tact and diplomacy and in all his 
endeavours to use all loyal helpers he was mutually aided 
by his life -long friend Lafayette. A graphic writer, the 
Marquis Costellux, who, during the campaigns before the 
end of the war, when on a visit to America, being hospitably 
entertained at headquarters by Washington, gives the fol- 
lowing eulogistic impressions of him: " The goodness and 
benevolence which characterize him are felt by all around 
him, but the confidence he inspires is never familiar, it 
springs from profound esteem and a great opinion of his 
talents." 

Speaking of his personal appearance he writes: "His 
form is noble and elevated, well-shaped and exactly pro- 
portioned; his physiognomy mild and agreeable, but such 
that one does not speak in particular of any one trait, and 
that in quitting him there remains simply the recollection of 
a fine countenance. His air is neither grave nor familiar : 
one sees sometimes on his forehead the marks of thought, 
but never of inquietude, while inspiring respect he inspires 
confidence, and his smile is always that of benevolence. 
Above all," he adds, " it is interesting to see him in the 
midst of the general officers of his army. General in a 
Republic, he has not the imposing state of a Marshal of 
France, who gives the order; hero in a Eepublic, he excites 
a different sort of respect which seems to originate in this 
sole idea that the welfare of each individual is attached to 
his person. In fine^ he is brave without tepierity, laborious 



HOWE SAILS FOR PHILADELPHIA. 137 

without ambition, generous without prodigality, noble with- 
out pride, virtuous without severity. He seems always to 
stop short of that limit when the virtues, assuming colours 
more vivid but more changeable and dubious, might be taken 
for defects." In concluding this chapter vv-e might add that 
the ^Marquis was one of those liberty-loving French noble- 
men like Lafayette who aided the' Commander-in-Chief 
materially towards the end of the war, one who wrote fluently 
and copiously later on the Revolution, and one who by his 
culture, social position and personal experience was a com- 
petent judge to pourtray our hero, because he was one of 
his most favoured acquaintances. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Howe Sails for Philadelphia. — Battles of Brandywine 

AND German STOWN. 

Howe's future objective was a mystery to Washington. He 
knew that the English General had two objects in view : one 
being to control the Hudson which commands the North, as 
well as the New England States ; the other to secure Phila- 
delphia, " The Rebel City," the capital of the country. To 
secure the first would have meant ruin to the American 
cause; to secure the Congressional city in Pennsylvania, 
where the new Government responsible for the conduct of 
the war sat, was an object which Howe ardently desired to 
accomplish. It was his policy in the spring and summer of 
1777 to dodge, decoy, and deceive the American General and 
keep him perplexed as to what moves he really had in view. 
To reach the capital by land or sea, to sail up the Hudson, 
or reach Boston and form a junction with Burgoyne, were 
possible operations, and it required the constant vigilance, 



138 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

prudent caution and alertness of the American commander 
to keep his army ready and equal for any of these emergen- 
cies. Upham in this connection remarks that * * for months 
the British General was vainly playing off all the stratagems 
of war, provoking, alluring and endeavouring to blind his 
enemy. He resorted to the extremest measures, some- 
times going through the operations of a pretended embark - 
ment, sending decoy fleets to sea, and keeping them hover- 
ing around the coast and sometimes marching his army fifty 
or a hundred miles and then retreating, and all this kind of 
uncertainty lasted from the month of January until late in 
August. ' ' 

After Sir William Howe found the game of drawing " the 
American fox " would not work and after the swift-footed 
Cornwallis failed to get behind the American army on the 
heights of Morristown, the British troops shipped their entire 
forces and baggage, with the exception of 4,000, who were 
left to co-operate towards Albany under Sir Henry Clinton 
and meet Burgoyne descending from the lakes. The same 
tactics of sailing backwards and forwards north and south 
after Howe and his 18,000 troops had left Staten Island was 
for some time continued. These tactics harassed the Ameri- 
can general, and wearied and worried his troops. Every 
move by sea and land was constantly noted by Washington 
and he was compelled to hurry his army over long distances 
and bad roads with the prospect of checking the British, just 
when he had reached a certain point to find that the enemy 
was hundreds of miles in another direction. In winter such 
forced marches would have been severe, but in the swelter- 
ing sun of July it well nigh exhausted his army. We can 
see the immense advantage the British had in the conduct 
of this war, with their powerful fleet to protect them and 
transport them from point to point. Just as land marches 
became dangerous or their position perilous, the fleet was 
near to carry them out of danger and commence the attack 
at another point where the enemy was ill-prepared. 



HOWE SAILS FOR PHILADELPHIA. 139 

Soon, however, all suspense was set at rest. Howe had 
entered the Chesapeake Bay and was navigating from the 
coast up toward the Elk Forks. To navigate the Delaware 
was found impracticable and dangerous for the British fleet, 
owing to sunken obstacles in the river and fortifications on 
the banks. Hence Howe cruised down to the mouth of the. 
Chesapeake with the intention of marching from Elkton on 
Philadelphia. It has been a matter of wonderment for 
almost three-quarters of a century why Howe took this 
course instead of keeping his forces together, joining with 
Burgoyne and saving so important an army from the New 
England hosts which overpowered it at Saratoga in October. 
The explanation was revealed by the discovery in the middle 
of the last centiu-y of letters in which General Lee, who was 
captured in the Jerseys in 1776, advised Howe to pursue the 
course he took, which course was contrary, as the letters 
disclose, to Howe's own plans. These letters also proved 
Lee to have been a traitor. In conjunction with them we 
need not wonder at his refusal to join. Washington at 
Trenton, his refusal to lead at Monmouth, his shameless 
retreat without resistance; and Washington was justified in 
<courtmartialling him and expelling him from an army into 
\which he never should have been admitted. 

Although Washington's main object with the forces under 
ihis immediate command was to keep in touch with Howe, 
still his care and supervision extended to every point where 
the enemy might attack ; hence he was constantly appealing 
to the Governors of the States to keep up the militia corps 
and be prepared to call them into action at any moment. 
His scouts kept him in touch with the movements of the 
enemy and his own troops at other points. He knew that 
Burgoyne was coming down like a conquering hero and that 
the forts on Champlain and George had fallen before his 
British and Indian columns. He knew also that old Stack 
had given him the first rebuff at Bennington, where a thou- 
sand troops were rovited and captured under the brave Bauni, 



140 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

It behoved Washington to meet the enemy at three points, 
and by so doing he left himself with an army less than half 
the size of Howe's. Some of his best Generals were in the 
Highlands of the Hudson to intercept Clinton, who was 
ascending that river to join Burgoyne at Albany in the 
autumn. Clinton was marching slowly but successfully and 
acting in a most cruel manner, burning and slaying unmerci- 
fully. Putnam was in command of the forces drafted off to 
intercept Clinton. Schuyler, Gates, Arnold, Morgan, and 
Stack were in command of the New England forces opposed 
to Burgoyne. The army of 8,000 commanded by Washing- 
ton, and now at Brandywine Creek to oppose Howe as 
he marched towards Philadelphia, had for commanding offi- 
cers Greene, the most distinguished of all the generals after 
the Commander-in-Chief, Sullivan, a brave New England 
soldier of Irish parentage, learned in the law, fearless as a 
soldier, ardent in the cause of freedom, and perhaps some- 
what impetuous rather than prudent in carrying out his duty. 
Besides these there were the distinguished Lafayette and 
the heroic if rash Anthony Wayne, another brave Pennsyl- 
vanian Irishman, nicknamed ** Mad Anthony Wayne." 

It was thought by some that Howe, like Clinton and 
Burgoyne, would subject to his sway the country towards 
Philadelphia as he passed along, but as he delayed too long 
on the sea route he determined to march direct on the city 
and if necessary send help to the Northern Army as it ap- 
proached Albany. Washington was determined to delay his 
approach to Philadelphia, and this he accomplished bj gi^ 
ing him battle at Brandywine and Germanstown before he 
took complete possession of a prize which proved a curse 
instead of a blessing. In the meantime Saratoga had been 
fought and the fine army of 10,000 under Burgojme made 
captive. 

The battle of Brandywine was not favourable in its results 
to the American cause. Of course, the numbers were un- 
equal, but Howe outgeneralled Washington. He parried 



HoWhl SAILS iOK PHiLADKLi*HlA. 141 

the attack of the Americau forces and kept up a sham can- 
uonade with Wayne, who guarded the main ford over the 
Creek until Howe, with the principal part of his army, got 
round behind the American ranks by a circuitous route. 
Those were the tactics so successfully used on Long Island ; 
the same tactics that Cornwallis employed on the Hudson 
when Washington Hed across the Jerseys. With the 
British in front and rear it was cruel to blame the Generals 
for want of courage or generalship. Although Congress was 
inclined to place responsibility on Sullivan and Lafayette 
for the confusion of the troops and the heavy death-roll that 
ensued, T. B. Stanborn, a writer of note, makes these two 
generals the real heroes of the engagement. He says : 

" At the battle of Brandywine Sullivan commanded the 
right wing. At length both wings of the American line began 
to shake and recoil and finally broke. Sullivan strained 
every nerve to arrest their flight, but finding every effort 
vain joined the central division. W^ith eight brave hearts 
around him he cheered them on by such noble words and 
nobler example that they for a long time withstood the onset 
of the entire British Army. The artillery ploughed through 
them with frightful havoc and the dead lay in heaps around. 
Yet there were Sullivan and Lafayette riding through the 
fire in this unequal contest. The determined manner in 
which they fought may be seen from the heavy loss on both 
sides. The British reported nearly 600 in killed and wounded 
on their side, whilst the Americans had about 1,000 to be 
accounted for in killed, wounded and prisoners." 

In this battle Sir William Howe's scheme of attack was 
\rell planned and well executed. The front and rear attack 
proved confusing to the American General, and all that 
Greene and Washington could do to sustain the flying raw- 
levies did not save the army from defeat and retreat in dis- 
order. Howe camped on the ground secured by the victory 
and Washington reached Philadelphia without being pur- 
sued. The American forces retreated in good order, were not 



142 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

dispirited, and were not adverse to meet once more tfie 
superior forces of Ho\\ e on the first opportune moment. 

Cornwallis was soon on the march towards Philadelphia, 
and on his approach Washington thought it the most pru- 
dent course to evacuate the city. His army was weary and 
ill-prepared for a frontal attack on the enemy, and hence he 
betook his forces to Lancaster, some distance from the city, 
that he might refresh his troops and devise plans for the 
future. 

An extract from one of Washington's messages to Congress 
at this time will explain the action of the General. " Our 
condition is deplorable for want of shoes. At least one 
thousand of our men are barefooted and have performed the 
marches in that condition." The army of the American 
Commander was numerically little inferior to those under 
Howe at Germanstown, but besides the want of shoes and 
blankets and other camping requisites many of them had no 
arms, and thus were more an impediment than an advantage 
for assisting in an effective engagement. 

From Germanstown Howe despatched some of his force 
to remove the obstructions and forts on the Delaware. Forts 
Mercer and Mifflin and some floating batteries judiciously 
placed were impediments to the free navigation of this river, 
and these the English General had determined to remove. 
Whilst engaged in this operation Washington saw a favour- 
able opportunity of making an attack on Germanstown. 
Accordingly he divided his forces into four divisions and 
marched them all night, and by this well-ordered surprise 
onslaught the enemy were thrown into great confusion. Vic- 
tory was in sight for the American General when Colonel 
Musgrave, a British officer, threw himself with six companies 
into a large building known as the " Chew House," which, 
in accordance with the well-established rule of warfare — not 
to leave an enemy fortified in the rear — -Washington stopped 
in his victorious march to raze to the ground, with the 
consequence that the enemy got time to rally. The British 



HOWE SAILS FOR PHILADELPHIA. 143 

in their turn now became the assailants, and as a iog was 
fast falling confusion soon entered the American ranks, and 
in the melee the ill-disciplined troops of Washington mistook 
their friends for the enemy. The result was disastrous to 
America. Almost 1,200 were lost in killed, wounded and 
prisoners, whilst the English losses were not more than half 
that number. Howe was less successful in his attacks on 
the forts; only after much resistance and a loss of four 
hundred men did he succeed in capturing them. The Ameri- 
cans had only a few missing on their side. The captui*e of 
these forts and the removal of the obstructions left Howe a 
free passage from Philadelphia to the sea; he betook his 
entire forces to the " Eebel City," whilst Washington re- 
treated uj) the mountains to Valley Forge, some twenty-six 
miles above Philadelphia, to winter quarters. 

It is worthy of note that although the war lasted until the 
capture of Cornw^allis at Yorktown, four years after the 
battle at Germanstown, and that it was not entirely con- 
cluded until Greene subdued the British in the Garolinas 
some months afterwards, yet the army under Washington's 
immediate command was never again seriously attacked by 
the enemy. Congress in manly terms voted thanks to 
Washington for his courageous attack after he had been 
driven from the capital,' and Frederic of Prussia, who him- 
self had been twice driven out of Berlin during the Seven 
Years' War, said that the independence of America was safe 
in the hands of a commander possessed of such tenacity and 
energy as the battle of Germanstown revealed. 



144 Lllf'E OF WASHINGtON. 

CHAPTER XV. 

War in the South and the Franco-Spanish Alliance. 

Whilst Howe was ou his way to Philadelphia the British 
Army under Burgoyne, some ten thousand strong, was pass- 
ing through a trying experience in the North. The plan of 
warfare mapped out was rendered inoperative owing to the 
slowness of Howe in reaching the capital, the arrangement 
having been that he should have reached there in time to 
send off reinforcements from his ponderous force to aid 
Burgoyne in making a passage from the Canadian shores to 
meet Sir Henry Clinton at Albany on the Hudson. Clinton, 
Burgoyne and Howe were in fact each too slow in their 
movements. The northern general was much impeded by 
baggage and greatly obstructed by Schuyler, who laid every 
obstacle in his way that genius could devise and that a will- 
ing militia could execute. The farther Burgoyne progressed 
South the farther he was removing from his base of supplies, 
and the New York and New England States were poor 
recruiting grounds and worse foraging centres for the enemy. 
Clinton was more successful in his mcii'ch up the Hudson, 
but his success was an isolated success. He came too late 
to be of any avail to prevent the capture of Burgoyne at 
Saratoga on the 17th October, 1777. A detailed account is 
elsewhere given of the capture at Saratoga, and it will be 
enough to merely add here a short extract from " Washington 
to Eoosevelt," which summarises the importance of that 
event : 

" The capitulation of Saratoga, the loss of this fine army 
and all their baggage was a momentous event and might 
truly be said to be the turning point in the War of Independ- 
ence. It roused the spirit of the country to the highest pitch 
of enthusiasm and patriotism. It struck a note of terror into 



WAIl„ IN THE SOUTH. 145 

the British Army in America and into the British nation and 
Cabinet in England. It quieted the Tories in the colonies 
and roused the hopes of the patriots." 

We need not recount the effects this victory had on Wash- 
ington personally as Commander-in-Chief. The enemies of 
the general were not idle after the success of General Gates. 
The Conway Cabal was making itself felt about this time, 
and its factionist abettors in the army and Congress clam- 
oured more or less openly for a change of leader in the army. 
The vain and over-rated hero of Saratoga was the idol that 
the Cabal held up as a fit substitute for Washington. We 
saw how the above faction received its quietus from the 
almost superhuman patience and magnanimity of Washing- 
ton himself and from the unanimous rejection of the spurious 
Gates by all true and patriotic men in army and Senate and 
over the thirteen States. 

The beneficent effects of the success of the Northern 
Army were soon felt and proved the main force behind the 
Commissioners in Paris in their endeavours for the past year 
to bring about an alliance with France. The French Alliance, 
which was ratified in the spring of 1778, might be said to be 
the crowning point of Franklin's unrivalled diplomacy. We 
saw how Kis tact and popularity and advocacy were instru- 
mental in inducing France to send secretly to the Americans 
much aid in money, ammunition and clothing, as well as 
cruising frigates. The capture of Burgoyne pointed out to 
the French nation that Americans were fighting England 
with success. To assist openly in the defeat of their ancient 
rival, the French nation willingly, after a year's parleying 
the question with Franklin, entered into an alliance with the 
United States, and by the wording of the treaty agreed to 
send over forthwith " 4,000 men to aid the army of Washing- 
ton." This decision of France and the formal notification 
of the French Alliance by the Marquis de Noailles to the 
British Cabinet not alone exasperated the King and his 
Ministers, but shifted the central point of interest from 



146 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

American soil. But our concern is still with Washington as 
responsible agent for the success of the revolution in America. 

The British Cabinet after the French Ambassador had 
notified them of the Alliance and after the storm of indigna- 
tion had subsided, conceived the most amicable designs to- 
wards the American rebels. The tide of British enmity was 
now turned towards France and Spain, the Bourbon enemy. 
If with honour the war in America could have been dropped, 
Lord North would have ordered home his generals. But 
Fox and Hartley would not let the matter rest; they in- 
sisted on knowing England's ultimatum regarding America. 
These latter ministers led a strong party in the House who 
were opposed to the war. In the Speech from the Throne, 
November, 1778, His Majesty said : " It would have afforded 
him very great pleasure to have informed the House that the 
conciliatory measures planned by the wisdom and temper of 
Parliament had taken the desired effect and brought the 
troubles in North America to a happy conclusion." The 
conciliatory measure referred to was the expedition of Com- 
missioners with the versatile and erudite Lord Carlisle at 
their head, who had fruitlessly attempted to placate the 
colonies and call them back to allegiance to the Crown and 
grant them every liberty and more bounteous privileges than 
hitherto short of independence. We need not remind our 
readers that the Commissioners on their return to England 
gave a most misleading account of affairs in America. Their 
report was dressed up for consumption to keep alive the war 
party's fervour, to delude the nation to please the headstrong 
Sovereign and his subservient ministers. 

Whilst Parliament was deceiving the nation at home by 
speeches and proclamations, Sir Henry Clinton now returned 
to New York, was shipping South a large force to subjugate 
the Southern States of the Union. In these States to the 
south of Virginia a large loyal population existed, and should 
a treaty of peace soon be brought about between England 
anl America, it would be important that those Southern 



WAR IN THE SOUTH. 147 

districts from Florida to Virginia should be in the possession 
of the British at the cessation of hostilities. It was for the 
object of confining the Americans east of the AUeghanny 
Mountains that Hamilton, the Canadian Governor at Detroit 
and Vincenne, across the Ohio, was pushing back the Green- 
mountmen of Kentucky and the borders, and in our narrative 
of Colonel George Clarke in " Washington to Eoosevelt " we 
saw how he was thwarted and his forces compelled to retreat 
towards the Lakes. It proved a more difficult and more 
protracted operation to repel the British from the South and 
subdue the strong Loyalist opposition in Georgia and the 
Carolinas. 

The South was ill-prepared for an invasion such as Clinton 
carried out against it. They had not fortified their territory 
as did the New England States early in the war. They were 
further removed from the seat of war hitherto and hence 
less enthusiastic in their loyal co-operation in men and money 
when called upon by Congress. The New York expedition, 
3,000 strong, under Colonel Campbell, with the 2,000 loyal- 
ists who joined him on arrival, had little trouble subduing 
Georgia, seizing Savannah and defeating the American 
General Howe that Washington had placed in command to 
protect those Southern districts. 

After Georgia had yielded to the superior British forces 
the war was prosecuted with like success in North Carolina, 
and great slaughter on both sides resulted. Volunteers on 
the American side met in deadly combat their Loyalist neigh- 
bours in the ranks of the British troops. As hostilities pro- 
ceeded the state of the country became desperate. Caldwell 
in his history of these days remarks: "When parties of 
Whigs and Tories met in civil contest they seemed to fight 
like devils not so much for victory as for extermination. 
This was the case in small partisan aftairs which from the 
nature of the contest were more numerous in the Southern 
than in the Northern States. Another circumstance added 
much to the bloodshed and desolation of the times was that 



148 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the population of these States was more equally divided than 
elsewhere into Loyalists and Sons of Liberty, or as they were 
commonly called, Whigs and Tories. From this were en- 
gendered in their most terrific form that mutual animosity 
and deadly hate which always characterise civil wars and 
usually convert them into systematized scenes of assassina- 
tion and rapine." 

This spirit of hate and revenge among the Whig and Tory 
colonials would seem to have a parallel in the thirst for the 
blood of the white men which the Red Indians cherished 
prior to the war, as the following extract from a Red Chief's 
speech discloses : "I shall go to war to revenge the death of 
my brothers. I shall kill, I shall exterminate, I shall devour 
their heart, dry their flesh, drink their blood; I shall tear off 
their flesh from their scalp, and I shall make cups of their 
skulls." — Robertson's " History of America," Bk. L, p. 361. 

From the year 1778 until 1782 the war raged fitfully in 
the South, and those regions were destined to endure dread- 
ful trials, in burning of houses and property, and in the 
savage butcheries that followed in the train of the British 
army in the war in those places where they could be cruel 
with impunity. 

As soon as Washington learned the object of Campbell's 
expedition South he despatched General Lincoln — who did 
such effective work against the Northern forces — with 1,400 
regulars to be recruited en route by militia from Virginia and 
North Carolina to oppose him, to unite with General Howe 
and at the same time assume command of the entire con- 
tinental forces in those Southern States. Lincoln was de- 
layed longer than he should have been in his march, and 
before he arrived at his destination Georgia and part of the 
Carolinas were in the hands of the British. Soon after Lin- 
coln assumed command of the Southern army he success- 
fully encountered the British troops, compelled them to 
abandon Augustine and pushed them before him as far as 
Savannah, where the British General prepared to make a 



WAR IN THE SOUTH. 140 

stand inside the entrenchments which had been hurriedly 
thrown up. On the 1st September the French fleet arrived 
opposite Savannah under Count D'Estaing, who had just 
succeeded in gaining a signal victory at sea against the 
British fleet at Granada. This same French Admiral just 
a year previously had severely taxed the patience of the 
American generals at Newport in the New England States 
by refusing to co-operate by sea with some 6,000 American 
troops, under Sullivan on land, and by their united exertions 
expel the British from Newport, where they were in great 
force. D'Estaing was anxious to conciliate the wounded 
feelings of the American allies and was determined to make 
reparation by aiding Lincoln in capturing Savannah. 
D'Estaing imperiously summoned Governor Prevost to sur- 
render the garrison in the name of the King of France. 
Prevost, having been reinforced by a large contingent of 
troops, set the besiegers at defiance. The allies by sea and 
land commenced to vigorously storm the well-guarded 
trenches. The French Admiral and the American general, 
each in person, headed their respective forces in an assault ; 
but so stubbornly did the British withstand their attack that 
the allies were forced to abandon the siege. Many brave 
officers and men were killed on both sides, and on the 
American side the brave Count Pulaski lay dead. Thus for 
a second time the French fleet proved ineffectual to dis- 
lodge the British strongly entrenched on the seaboard. 

For some time after the siege of Savannah the war seemed 
to lie dormant. The British had no other desire than to 
hold their fortified positions and harass the people from their 
safe encampments. The aim of the British, as openly 
avowed at this time by their military chiefs, was to burn, 
plunder and destroy as wide an area of the country as pos- 
sible and thus render the colonies of little value to the victors. 
They carried away slaves to the number of 4,000 and sold 
them in the West Indies at fifty-six dollars per head. They 
pillaged every house, robbed the better class of their jewels 



150 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 



and ornaments, and in their raids treated the inhabitants 
with inhuman barbarity. They burned the churches of 
every creed and class as pagans might have done. This war 
of pillage and desolation was carried on by frigates along the 
seaboard from New England to Florida. When the desecra- 
tors had pillaged and laid desolate whole districts, and when 
old and young were fleeing in every direction from fear, it 
was not uncommon to find the butchers of children and 
women issuing a proclamation calling on them to return to 
allegiance to the British Crown. The answer everywhere 
to those appeals from the enemy was to hurl back their 
insult with a defiant " Never!" Mrs. Warren in her ac- 
count of tTie rise and progress and termination of the Ameri- 
can War, says of these harrowing scenes: " That wanton 
outrage was committed by the cruel Tryon of New York and 
his troops on the fair sex; even the best families, some of 
whom had shown civilities to the enemy, were shamefully 
treated, their houses rifled, and their persons abused. Many 
fled in terror to the woods and swamps when they saw the 
faggot of the incendiaries approach their homes. The 
mother was separated from the infant at the breast at the 
point of the bayonet ; all appeals or entreaties for mercy were 
vain and hopeless wdien the pirate band of Royalists and 
Hessians, led by General Tryon, came upon the scene in 
their hellish work of destruction and carnage." Irishmen 
are not to be surprised at the above account of cruelty when 
they remember Cromwell's wars in Ireland, and they can 
see a typical successor of Clinton and Tryon in Lake of 

'Ninety-Eight " fame in the Irish rebellion. 

When France entered into alliance with America she left 
the way open for Spain to follow. The two nations were 
ruled by scions of the great Bourbon line ; they were both in 
league to keep Great Britain in subjection. France was fast 
becoming democratic, but the proud conservative Spaniard 
dreaded a Republican alliance. It was feared that ideas of 
too liberal a tendency might be fostered by contact with such 



WAR IN TllE SOUTH. 151 

democratic sons of liberty as the Americans were supposed 
to be. Spain, too, feared for her American possessions lest 
they by influence of the States might in time to come rebel 
against the mother country. At last, however, she offered 
her aid on condition that the Mississippi waters and the 
Floridas should be under her control. The conditions also 
stipulated that France should have the fishing rights of New- 
foundland, and that America should be satisfied with a tacit 
recognition of Independence from England. The Americans 
were not prepared to purchase a Spanish alliance so dearly ; 
Virginia would not give up her claim on the " Father of 
Waters," nor would Massachusetts cede her right to fish in 
the Newfoundland seas. Nor were the States after so much 
waste of men and capital prepared to stop short of formal and 
complete Independence. Spain at length signed the Franco- 
American Alliance on condition that Florida should be her 
property and the other matters raised be left suspended till 
the end of the war. Spain withdrew her Minister from 

London on pretence that England would not accept her as a 
mediator of peace on the condition of complete American 
Independence, and forthwith she prepared her fleet to oppose 
England, an army being raised at the same time along the 
Mississippi to invade Florida. It thus happened that Spain 
did not long remain inactive after joining the alliance. In 
conjunction with France she made an ineffectual attempt to 
land troops on the English coast, and threatened Gibraltar. 
The French were not less active and certainly they were 
more successful against England than Spain. They opposed 
the British fleet in African and Indian waters, captured 
Senegal, St. Vincent and Granada, which possessions they 
hold to this present day. 

There is no doubt that the fleets of the allied Powers were 
of incalculable advantage to the American cause at this time, 
although as yet the war on land had all been sustained by 
the Americans themselves. Still it would be difficult to 
exaggerate the importance of the French cruisers in keeping 



3 62 LIFE UF WAwSHINGTOK. 

in check the frigates and pirates in the British service. The 
friendly fleets kept at bay the aggressiveness of the British 
Navy and gave not alone support but security to the ill- 
equipped fleet which the Americans had on the seas to pro- 
tect her merchantmen and harbours. It cannot be over- 
estimated the aid also which the army under Washington 
received from the volunteer seafaring privateers during the 
first three years of the war. It is approximated that almost 
70,000 New England patriots were engaged from time to 
time in the cause of freedom, and that these brave sea 
warriors captured hundreds of cargoes of powder, provisions 
and other army supplies from the English boats, and by 
their action on the sea turned the London merchants into 
bitter enemies of the party for war in England. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Washington's Difficulties in '79. 

Some aspects of our hero's history at this period have been 
fully dealt with in the sketch published under the title of 
Washington to Boosevelt," and these must be briefly 
passed over here. The winter of '78 up in the mountains 
twenty-six miles above Philadelphia was a dismal one, and 
the sufferings of those months were equal to any trials of any 
army recorded in history. Leaving the reader to follow in 
the volume referred to the army under Sir Henry Clinton, 
who had succeeded General Howe, in its retreat to New 
York, and to trace therein the details of the battle of Mon- 
mouth en route, where General Lee proved himself a soldier 
of fortune in truth and got courtmartialled for his disloyalty 
to Washington, let us accompany the General and his army 
during the ixiore or less uneventful and dreary years from 
1779 until the capture of Yorktown. 



Washington's difficulties. 158 

Although Washington could effect little during the year 
1779, yet he was constantly on the alert. He was by no 
means strong enough in his camp at Morristown to attempt 
the expulsion of Clinton from New York, where he was 
strongly guarded and well reinforced. In fact, the army 
and the finances of America were both at this time in a most 
critical condition, and to add to the difiiculty of his situation 
Congress was in a turmoil of unrest, faction was rife among 
many, and the best patriots were not among the number of 
those who were advisers and legislators. It had not been 
so from the beginning. It was well for the cause of liberty 
that Washington was trusted by both army and nation, and 
that his wise counsel, prudence and statesmanlike advice had 
a moderating as well as a regulating effect on the incom- 
petent counsellors of the nation. 

Instance the absurd proposal that the forces of the Bepub- 
lio 60 necessary and even inefficient for defensive and offen- 
sive w^arfare in the States, should be sentoff, as they advised, 
on a wild-goose chase to conquer Canada. Washington on 
being confronted with this appeared before Congress in per- 
son and argued the impracticability of carrying out the 
project, considering the fact that the enemy were in strong 
force in the States, that the means at his disposal were 
inadequate, that to winter in the Northern regions might 
bring about the dispersion of their entire forces 

The apath}^ of the States in obeying the orders of Con- 
gress was another cause of anxiety to the General. He 
reminds Congress as responsible head of the States, that 
unless ways and means ^vere adopted without delay he 
could not for long keep the army together. At this time 
Washington was as busy as it was possible for one man to 
be; he was writing to Congress, to Governors of States, to 
his generals at their stations, and to a host of other cor- 
respondents. Every channel was tapped by him to aid his 
army and further the cause of liberty. We find him writing 
to one of his generals as follows : " Nothing I am convinced 



154 LIFE UF WASHINGTON. 

but tiic depieciaiioii of our eunency, proceeding in a great 
measure from speculation and peculation, engrossing and 
forestalling, by those devoid of patriotic instincts, and at the 
same time our own party dissensions, has fed the enemy and 
kept the arms of Britain in America until now." " Shall," 
he adds, " a few designing men, for their own aggrandize- 
ment and to gratify their own avarice, overset the goodly 
fabric we have been rearing at the expense of so much time 
and blood and treasure?" " Our cause," he adds, " is 
noble ; let our legislators enforce laws to check the avari- 
cious." We can see here a note struck by Washington a 
hundred and fifty years ago that the present rulers of Greater 
America are determined to enforce and so preserve their 
great nation from corruption and decline. " Let us not 
sleep," he says, " but let us devise ways and means to im- 
prove our credit and raise the value of our currency. Every- 
thing now depends upon our credit. Let us punish specula- 
tors and extortioners. Let us promote public and private 
economy, encourage manufactures. Measures like these 
taken up by each State will strike at the root of all our mis- 
fortunes and enable us to give the coup de grace to British 
hopes of subjugation." From the above extracts we can see 
that Washington had absolute faith in the resources of the 
nation to supply the men and means to conquer, but some 
further extracts from his correspondence will show how^ 1o\n', 
notwithstanding, was the state of the army in January, 1780. 
From liis Headquarters at Morristown, in New Jersey, he 
writes to the magistrates of same State as follows : " Gentle- 
men, the present situation of the army with respect to pro- 
visions is the most distressing of an;v ^ve have experienced 
since the beginning of the war. For a fortnight past the 
troops, both officers and men, have been almost perishing 
for want. They have alternately been without bread or meat 
the whole time, with a very scanty allowance of either and 
frequently without both. They have borne their sufferings 
with patience. But they are now reduced to an extremity no 



Washington's difficultibs. 155 

longer to be supported. Their distress has prompted them 
fco seize provisions from the inhabitants, a com'se of conduct 
which would have been severely punished only for the ex- 
treme necessity of the case. The evil would increase and 
become intolerable to the people around if instant aid is not 
forthcoming." 

The following communication to the President of Congress 
throws a lurid light on the financial crisis in the colonies in 
the later stages of the war. He says: '' Without some new 
measure what funds could stand the present expenses of the 
army and what officers can bear the weight of the prices that 
every necessary article has now got to? A rat in the shape 
of a horse is not to be bought at this time for less than $200, 
nor a saddle under $30 or $40. Boots can only be procured 
by paying $20 per pair and shoes and other articles for use 
at a proportionate price. How under these circumstances 
is it possible for officers to stand this without an increase of 
pay, and how is it possible to advance their pay when tlour 
is selling for from $5 to $15 per cwt., and hay for $10 or $15 
per cwt., and beef and other essentials figure in like pro- 
portion? At present I may add that a waggon load of money 
will scarcely purcliase a waggon load of provisions." 

There was truly need of a remedy for all these misfor- 
tunes and woes, so fatal to the cause of his army, and of 
which Washington so justly complains. We shall see later 
that funds from Europe, and friends at home, came to the 
relief of the nation ^^hicll might at this time in the war In^ 
truly said to be pining away and dying from financial stag- 
nation and depreciation of the paper currency. 

The alliance had an injurious effect on the efficiency of the 
army. The people consoled themselves that the allies would 
fight their battles and keep the English sufficiently em- 
ployed, but the clear vision of Washington hugged none of 
those delusions. He may have diagnosed how fondly stub- 
born King George clung to the idea of subjugating his rebel 
colonies. He looked upon the lull in hostilities as a prelude 



1^ LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

to greater exertions, and he was right. Hence he never 
ceased exhorting Congress and his countrymen to put all 
their agencies to work for the final tug-of-war, which he 
knew must come before Clinton sailed home with his army. 
History was against the idea that Britain would tamely sub- 
mit to the dictation of the Bourbons and yield up America 
except by force. Washington never relaxed in his efforts 
to ensure harmony and union between the civil and military 
and industrial forces of his country. Congress, however, 
although it generally yielded to the superior mind of the 
Commander, was yet only by slow stages able to gather in 
the quota of men and money voted for the army, so that, 
for example, when the recruits should have been in camp 
from January preparing for the spring campaign, they gen- 
erally did not arrive before March. To add to the dis- 
quietude, Silas Deane, the Ambassador at Versailles, had 
disagreed with his co-diplomats, Adams and Lee, and vras 
called home, tried by Congress and dismissed, as was gen- 
erally believed unjustly, and even Mr. Laurens, the President 
of Congress, was the central figure for much vituperation 
and public irritation. 

Washington, ever above party disputes and recrimination, 
was kept busily engaged by pen and voice throwing oil on 
the troubled waters, reminding the despondent of their 
glorious achievements and chiding the indolent, the selfish, 
and the avaricious for their want of public spirit. He com- 
pares the affairs of the nation to the mechanism of a clock, 
each State representing some one or other of its smaller 
parts. He saj'S : " What is the use of devoting all attention 
to the parts if all are not set and working in harmony?" 
" Where are our men of ability?" he enquires. " Why do 
they not come forth to save the country? Why sit down 
under our own vine and fig-tree and let our hitherto noble 
struggle end in ignominy?" 

Britain was at this time filled with the idea that America 
was tired of the war, and that by prolonging it better terms 



THE YEAR 1780. 157 

might be gained in the final treaty which should close it. 
Therefore she encouraged her generals to invade the colonies 
and to weary out the American army and nation. 

The year 1779 was eventful for little further between the 
contending armies than slight excursions and captures, some 
burnings and much plunder from the people by the British 
troops. Washington's forces stormed Stony Point, surprised 
Paulus Hook and captured 800 men in the garrison. He 
also drove the enemy out of South Carolina, and we are 
aware how George Clarke and General Sullivan, with sepa- 
rate commands, gained signal success in the Western and 
North-western districts against the Canadians and their Eed 
allies. We might add that the troops under Clinton ac- 
counted for the destruction of some seaport towns, such as 
New Haven, Fairfax and Norwark, on the Sound. They 
also captured King's Ferry and everywhere where the 
invasion proved successful witnessed the same cruel scenes 
and the same abuse of women and helpless children. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Year 1780. 

Although Washington did not conduct the campaigns that 
were fought during this year in person he was nevertheless 
responsible for the conduct of the war in every corner of the 
Union. Hence we will follow Sir Henry Clinton's large 
force of four thousand troops from New York and see how 
they fought and conquered in the South against Generals 
Lincoln, Gates and Greene with much success during the 
year previous to the final siege at Yorktown. The vessels 
that conveyed these troops of Clinton's to Charleston, where 
the American forces under Lincoln were entrenched were 
unfortunate in their voyage. The wind and sea buffeted 
them unmercifully and many of the frigates were damaged 



158 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

before they reached Savannah, where the Southern army of 
the enemy was stationed. The arrival of the Northern 
forces was soon followed by an energetic onslaught on Lin- 
coln, and after a fierce and bloody struggle the American 
general was forced to surrender Charleston and his entire 
army to the British. Clinton drew up articles of capitula- 
tion to which Lincoln agreed. General Leslie was honoured 
with the duty of taking possession of this fine seaport, in the 
name of Great Britain, the American soldiers having piled 
their arms and surrendered themselves as prisoners of war. 
The number of Americans slain in action amounted to about 
one hundred and more than that number were wounded. 
The prisoners captured, including soldiers and citizens, were 
about 5,000, of which number about half were citizens, 
women and children. Here were concentrated some four 
hundred pieces of ordnance, some vessels, and a consider- 
able quantity of stores, and these also fell into the hands of 
Sir Henry Clinton. The loss was a severe blow to the Sons 
of Liberty, and for a time it almost paralysed the Southern 
States and sent a thrill of fear and dismay through every 
State in the Union. 

Much censure was at first cast upon General Lincoln. 
Censure is always the lot of defeated generals. Burgoyne 
was maligned, ostracized and disfranchised in London after 
his defeat at Saratoga. Sir William Howe was exposed on 
reaching England to public opprobrium from the war party 
in Parliament, and had, like Burgoyne, to defend himself 
before the Commons. We need not wonder that Lincoln 
was held up to the States as an incompetent officer when in 
reality the fall of Charleston was attributable to the apathy 
of the Southern States themselves in not calling out suffi- 
cient militia, and in neglecting to make suitable provision for 
a siege ; and just as Burgoyne and Howe proved themselves 
not the most efficient and competent of generals, although 
all the blame was not theirs, so Lincoln may not have 
shown himself on this occasion all that a general of the first 



THE YEAR 1780. 159 

rank should have been. Lee in his memoirs says " that so 
well established was the reputation of the vanquished 
general that he continued to enjoy the undiminished respect 
and confidence of Congress, of the army, and of the Com- 
mander-in-Chief. ' ' 

Sir Henry Clinton, fearing the arrival of the allied forces, 
and also dreading that they would undo the work he had so 
successfully accomplished at Charleston, issued no less than 
three different proclamations to the inhabitants of the 
Southern States. In these manifestoes he called on the in- 
habitants to rally to his victorious standard. The Loyalists 
were ordered to march all their able-bodied men to join his 
ranks, and where family or property impeded their leaving 
home, a territorial militia was to be formed for local defence 
and all not in the royal ranks to be enrolled in the local 
militia corps. He called upon those who had hitherto been 
Whigs to swear allegiance to the British Crown, and in a 
most tyrannical and cowardly manner compelled them to 
turn their swords against their friends and country. He 
promised protection to all who should remain peaceful, but 
threatened that if again they dared to join the rebel ranks, 
and by the fortunes of war at some future time to fall into 
his hands as prisoners their punishment should be death. 
Finally he granted pardon to all except those who had shed 
the blood of their loyal neighbours. These cruel decrees had 
the desired effect for a time. Some through fear joined the 
ranks of Clinton and many betook themselves to the far West 
borders and joined the mountain rangers in the rebel service 
rather than fight against their former friends. Clinton when 
he had thus, as he thought, cowed into subjection the un- 
protected Southerns, sailed off to his headquarters at New 
York and placed the brave and honorable Lord Cornwallis 
in command of the South with 4,000 troops. When Wash- 
ington in his quarters at Morristown learned of the defeat 
of Lincoln and the capture of the entire army in the South, 
he sent off without delay Gates, the hero of Saratoga, with 



160 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

brave old Baron De Kalb and a strong force of regulars, to 
arouse the drooping spirits of the South, to rally and recruit 
the Virginians as he marched South. The army over which 
Gates was placed was ill provided with garments ; they had 
no provisions with them, and on their march they were 
dependent on the charity of the districts en route, or on the 
plunder and foraging of the soldiers. Part of the journey 
was through a desert wilderness, and their chief diet was 
wild fruit, honey and Indian corn, often uncooked. The 
prestige of Gates acted powerfully on the spirits of the in- 
habitants as he hurriedly marched towards Camden. Before 
he came within range of the enemy his army was swelled to 
many thousands strong by the militia who marched to his 
standard. At Camden Cornwallis, of Jersey fame ; Tarleton 
and Lord Eawden and Ferguson, generals of great daring 
and enterprise, were stationed, and here they determined to 
oppose the onward march of the feared and famed hero of 
Saratoga. 

Gates had collected a force of 6,000 when he arrived at 
Camden early in the month of August, and among these 
some 2,000 were veterans. On the 6th of August, at 2 
o'clock A.M., the two opposing armies, unaware of each 
other, met in a wood near the place from which the battle 
takes its name. The night was dark, and both generals 
agreed to defer the contest now inevitable until daybreak. 
Gates led the Virginian Militia in person and they were 
opposed to the well-sustained attack of Cornwallis. The 
result is soon told. The unskilled militia broke and fled in 
confusion after the first onslaught of the enemy, and they 
did not halt in their precipitate retreat until they had put 
twenty miles between them and Camden. The swift-footed 
troops of the enemy pm'sued them for several miles, and 
terrible was the loss of this large army, in dead and dying, 
who strewed the way along the route. Gates did not make 
a courageous stand. He rather led in the retreat than 
seriously attempted to rally the frightened militia. Before 







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THE YEAR 1780. 161 

the sorrowful remnants of his army and himself halted in 
their rout they were fully sixty miles from the scene of their 
disaster and disgrace. The brave foreign officer, Baron De 
Kalb, surrounded by a band of regulars, stood to his guns, 
until he fell in front of the foe pierced by bullets in eleven 
different places. The Americans left about nine hundred 
dead or dying along the route from Camden, and about the 
same number were made prisoners by the enemy. The can- 
non and baggage, of course, were seized by the successful 
general. Thus was put a stop to the march of the con- 
quering hero, and thus was closed the military career of 
Gates. He stood disgraced before the army and nation, and 
Washington, on learning of the disaster, sent off Nathaniel 
Greene, the favourite officer of the Commander-in-Chief, and 
the one who is most honoured among the renowned fighters 
of the Revolution after Washington himself. Gates was 
recalled, and on his way North v/as everywhere met with 
frowns. No eye beamed on him, no cordial welcome was 
extended, no tongue saluted him in accents of kindness. 
Silence and censure were his portion everywhere. All saw 
in him the defeated of Camden. None recognised in him 
the hero of Saratoga. There v/as, however, just one ray of 
sunshine for poor Gates as he marched off from Charlotte, 
where, on December the 2nd, he resigned his command to 
General Greene, for, as he passed through Richmond, in 
Virginia, the Assembly of the Old Dominion did a most 
gracious act towards the disgraced General. Lee, in his 
memoirs of the war, says that * * Great and good men at that 
juncture governed in the State. Guided by the dictates of 
virtue and instructed by history and grateful for eminent 
services, they saw a wide difference between misfortune 
and criminality, and weighed the triumphs in the North 
against the disaster in the South. These fathers of the 
Commonwealth appointed a committee of their body to wait 
on the General, and to assure him of their high regard and 
esteem, to assure him that the.y remembered his former 

L 



162 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

glorious services and that reverses could never obliterate 
them." The answer of the fallen General was most dignified 
and expressive. " I shall remember," said he, " with the 
utmost gratitude the honour this day done me by the hon- 
ourable House of Delegates of Virginia. When I engaged 
in the cause of liberty and of the United States I devoted 
myself entirely to the service of obtaining the great end of 
the Union. The having been once unfortunate is my great 
mortification ; but let the events of my future service be what 
they may, they will, as they have always been, be directed by 
the most faithful integrity and animated by the purest zeal 
for the honour and interest of the United States." 

Gates had now reached the end of his military career. He 
was tried by a military court and found guilty of incom- 
petency and cowardice. Congress dismissed him from the 
service. It is generally admitted that Congress often blun- 
dered during the war, and the summary dismissal of Gates 
for one unfortunate disaster was on a par with their action 
before Saratoga in placing Gates over the patriotic Schuyler, 
who paved the way for victory and the capture of Burgoyne. 

Greene, who now took up the command in the South, 
found on his arrival, on the 4th December, great apathy 
among the patriots and a correspondingly vigilant and power- 
ful enemy determined to conquer. He found the Fabian 
Cornwallis, the cruel Ferguson, and the intrepid and light- 
footed Tarleton in command. To say that Greene had an 
army to lead would be to dignify the scattered remnants of 
a disbanded, half-clothed soldiery, without magazines, with- 
out means of sustenance, except the charity of the neigh- 
bourhood, and without apparent hope against a formidable 
foe. It is true Greene gathered together from the wreck of 
Camden 2,000 soldiers, but before they could decently en- 
gage in serious warfare it behoved the Commander to clothe 
them and equip them with baggage and war implements. 
No wonder at this critical period Washington was appealing 
with superhuman energy to Congress, the States, and all 



THE YEAR 1780. 163 

patriotic Americans to come to the aid of the cause and help 
him to put new life into the nation and make a final rally 
for Independence. Should their French allies see apathy 
on the patriots' side a blow might be given to the cause 
that time could never heal. It would be a national disgrace 
should Frenchmen be asked to serve in the ranks with 
famished, naked and half-armed peasantry. 

Lord Cornwallis did not remain idle after the defeat of 
Gates. He marched back to Charleston, the British head- 
quarters in the South, and prepared his plans for final vic- 
tory. Here he found Clinton's enforced service in force. 
Those who refused to join his ranks were severely punished. 
As soon as he had everything in readiness for marching North 
he led his troops in October into North Carolina with the 
object of subduing the country as he passed along and in- 
creasing his ranks by recruits from the Royalist population, 
which was numerous in this State. In his march towards 
Charlotte, the intended headquarters of the patriots, he sent 
in advance of the main force Tarleton and Ferguson, his 
two most daring ofiicers,. to capture the magazine and clear 
the way by dispersing the disafiected and rallying the loyal 
inhabitants to the British standard. 

Ferguson in his recruiting raids soon found himself in 
collision with bands of backwoodsmen from Tennessee and 
Kentucky. It is needless to say that these " Big Knives," 
as the Indians named them, were bold, fearless and daring 
fighters. It is impossible to find them unprepared and 
equally difiicult to overcome them. They were swift in 
action and deadly in their aim. Their rifle was their com- 
panion by night and by day. They were eagle-like in their 
swoop down from their forest or mountain fastness on the 
enemy. They carried few encumbrances by way of baggage. 
The Indian mode of facing the enemy was theirs. They 
fought from under cover, from the cover of trees or from 
high precipices or behind rocks. When they openly at- 



164 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

tacked it was a wild Irish dash they made, an invincible 
onslaught, and back like a wild deer to their secure retreat. 

These backwoodsmen made an attack in their own fashion 
on Ferguson, separated as he was from the main ranks, sur- 
prised him, slew the general and almost annihilated his 
troops in the bloody raid, 1,000 prisoners being taken. 

The two leaders of these " Green Mountain Men" or 
frontier men, who stand out prominent in these Southern 
encounters against the British were Marion and Sumpter. 
Often during the final stages of the war, when the cause of 
liberty was hard pressed, these brave leaders, with their 
hardy mountain men, did giant service against the foe. Many 
a back-set they gave to the victorious Tarleton and many a 
Loj'alist muster did they scatter. They were the invisible 
terror of the South. They were swift in assault and always 
attacking at the most opportune time and when least ex- 
pected by the enemy. They carried their camps and bag- 
gage with them, and hence they could never be said to be 
cut off from their base. 

Although these two brave mountain men were the terror 
of the South, yet their followers were few and their victories 
were only snatched. They could not hold a post, as they 
could not, either from lack of numbers or inability to make 
preparations, settle down for defensive operations. Hence 
it need not surprise that Cornwallis and Tarleton, before 
Greene had sufficiently organized his forces in the beginning 
of 1781, had practically seized all the strong positions in 
the South outside Virginia. 



FINANCE TROUBLES. 166 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Finance Troubles. — The Daughters of Liberty. — 
Lafayette and the Arrival of Count de 

ROCHAMBEAU WITH FlEET. 

Washington, as we saw, wlien the South was overrun by 
the enemy, was not unmindful of his duty towards those 
harassed States. Yet his chief concern was with the main 
forces of the enemy in and around New York. The American 
headquarters were at Middlebrook and the highlands along 
the Hudson, and from these secure outlooks he kept a vigi- 
lant eye upon the enemy. It was the ambition of the 
American General to end the war at New York, which some 
years before he had been forced to evacuate, by boldly sur- 
rounding and capturing Sir Henry Clinton's concentrated 
forces. But much strengthening of his resources was needed 
before he might essay such a difficult task. At present the 
army of America was hopelessly unfit for offensive opera- 
tions. From the time that France entered into alliance with 
America there came a lull in the activity displayed by the 
army and Congress. From the year 1777 the continental 
troops had gained no decisive battles, nor had they improved 
their position as a fighting force either in the eyes of England 
or in the eyes of France. They had not impressed their 
restless and ambitious allies with their prowess in arms nor 
with zeal and enthusiasm in the cause of liberty. The main 
forces in the North-east were merely watching and waiting 
whilst the enemy were capturing town and country from 
the Union in the South. From Georgia to Virginia was 
practically in the hands of the enemy. Two large armies 
under two famed commanders had been captured and routed, 
viz., at Camden under Gates and at Charleston under Lincoln. 
The causes that led up to these disasters were mainly due 
to the apathy of the nation, the want of energy and power 



166 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

in Congress, the scarcity of circulating medium or funds, 
and the ever-recurring drawback of short service enlistment. 
It is true that Congress was in great part powerless to remedy 
the financial difficulty, and without money soldiers won't 
serve, nor can an army subsist. 

In this dark crisis in American affairs, when nearly every 
channel for replenishing the war chest was dried up, the 
patriotic " Daughters of Liberty " over the States boldly set 
to work to aid Congress and the General to supply the 
sinews of war and necessary supplies for the soldiers. A 
society of ladies was organized in Philadelphia under Mrs. 
Reid, wife of General Reid, to make garments for the army. 
The daughter of Franklin became one of the leading figures 
in this movement. Lafayette, in the name of his young 
wife, presented the society with a hundred guineas in specie, 
and the Countess de Luzerne, wife of another brave French 
General, and friend of Washington, also subscribed gener- 
ously to the fund. Just as in the New England States prior 
to the war, the Daughters of Liberty sewed and spun and 
wove and made garments for their brothers and husbands 
and sweethearts in order to boycott the English trade, so 
now they united to forward the cause of liberty by denying 
themselves luxuries, and many of the finest ladies in the 
country sold their diamonds and gold ornaments and plate 
and begged and borrowed money to procure wool and linen 
to supply the defenders of their country, their honour, and 
their homes, with garments to cover their naked, shivering 
frames. 

Twenty thousand shirts were thus forwarded to the army 
of Washington, and this action of the women of America 
had a most inspiriting effect on the soldiers in the camp, 
and spurred both officers and men to renewed energy in the 
cause of Independence. How great a boon were not these 
supplies to the army, at a time when the soldiers were 
almost perishing from cold and the patience of their endur- 
ance drew from Washington a strong note recommending 



FINANCE TROUBLES. 167 

them to the approbation and sympathies of their country- 
men. To suffer was the lot of the soldiers of the revolution, 
and Washington Irving has truly recorded of the army at this 
time that the severest trials of the war were not in the field, 
where there were plaudits to cheer and laurels to be won, 
but in the squalid and ill-provided camps, where there was 
nothing to cheer their sufferings and misery. 

When there came a lull in the activity of the enemy after 
the retreat of the British General and his army from Phila- 
delphia to New York the young Lafayette thought the time 
opportune to visit his family in France, and whilst there he 
was not unmindful of the cause so dear to his heart. King 
Louis XVI. said of him he was so importunate in his 
solicitations for men and money for America that he could 
refuse him nothing. As a result of his visit, which came 
to an end in 1780, large supplies of stores and magazines 
were shipped for America, and about the first week in July 
Count de Eochambeau reached America w ith troops to the 
number of five or six thousand, with a large train of artillery. 
Washington was to retain chief control of both French and 
American forces ; the French officers of equal rank were to 
take precedence of the American officers, but army and 
ofiicers were to take their places and projects and general 
orders from Washington, the Commander-in-Chief. 

The generous instruction given by King Louis to his 
generals shows how earnestly he desired his troops to co- 
operate on friendly relations with the American allies. He 
was aware of the rankling feelings that possessed the French 
soldiers after the capture of Quebec and the loss of Canada, 
and Washington could not forget how near they were to a 
rupture at Newport, where D'Estaing refused to co-operate 
with General Sullivan to expel the British troops from the 
New England seaport the previous year. Washington was 
determined that no cause for rupture or jealousy should 
occur with this fresh contingent from their allies the French, 
and hence he takes the earliest opportunity to welcome the 



16B LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Count to America. The letter here subjoined will show the 
versatility of Washington and how he was neither deficient 
in diplomacy nor that etiquette even in small details so 
suitable to the susceptible nature of the Frenchman. 

" New Jersey, 16th July, 1780. 

Sir, — I hasten to impart to you the happiness I feel at 
the welcome news of your arrival, and as well in the name 
of the American Army as my own to present you with an 
assurance of our warmest sentiments for allies who have so 
generously come to our aid. As a citizen of the United 
States and as a soldier in the cause of liberty, I thankfully 
acknowledge this new mark of friendship from His Most 
Christian Majesty, and I feel a most grateful sensibility for 
the flattering confidence he has been pleased to honour me 
with on this occasion. 

" Among the obligations we are under to your Prince I 
esteem it one of the first that he has made choice for the 
command of his troops of a gentleman whose high reputation 
and happy union of social qualities and military abilities 
promise me every public advantage and private satisfaction. 
I beg, sir, that you will be the interpreter of my sentiments 
to the gentlemen under your command. Be pleased to 
assure them that to the pleasure I anticipate of an acquain- 
tance with them, I join the warmest desire to do everything 
that may be agreeable to them and to the soldiers under 
their command. But in the midst of a war the nature and 
difficulties of which are peculiar and uncommon I cannot 
flatter myself in any way to recompense the sacrifices they 
have made, but by giving them such opportunities in the 
field of glory as will enable them to display that gallantry 
and those talents which we shall always be happy to ack- 
nowledge with applause. 

The Marquis de Lafayette has been by me desired from 
time to time to communicate such intelligence and make 
such propositions as circumstances dictated. As a general 



FINANCE TROUBLES. 169 

officer I have the greatest confidence in him; as a friend he 
is perfectly acquainted with my sentiments and opinions. 
He knows all the circumstances of our army and the country 
at large. I request you will settle all arrangements what- 
soever with him. 

Impatiently awaiting the time when our operations will 
afford me the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with you, 
I have the honour to be, with the most perfect consideration, 
" Your most humble servant, 

" George Washington." 

It has been questioned by some whether the alliance with 
the French and Spanish house of Bourbon was a real advan- 
tage to America. It was not certainly through any love of 
those quondam British subjects, those sons of soldier fathers 
who fought from Duquesne to Quebec against the French in 
the reign of Louis XV., to enable England to hunt for ever 
the French from the West and to clip the power of Spain 
in North America. The Bourbons were not like that lover 
of liberty, Lafayette, or the other French nobles and soldiers 
schooled in the doctrines of the " lllurninati " of France and 
Prussia, who embraced the cause of the brave Americans 
struggling against great adversaries for freedom. No; the 
haughty French Bourbon and the proud Conservative 
Spanish Bourbon were each actuated by motives far removed 
from real love of a peasant army, three thousand miles 
across the x\tlantic, in arms against the foster-parent of their 
race, the nation they a few years ago proudly called their 
home, the Motherland. Naturally the allies, led by aristo- 
cratic Generals, considered their infant allies novices in the 
use of arms, and undoubtedly the ulterior motive for the 
allies in their new-pledged love of republicanism was hate of 
England and hope that Canada, Florida, Lousiania and the 
fishing banks of Newfoundland might be their permanent 
heritage in the treaty scramble that would come about after 
England should be humbled by the triple powers leagued 
against her. 



170 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



A Survey of American Difficulties and their Eemedy. — 
Winter of 1780 and 1781. 

Young Lafayette was most impatient for an active forward 
campaign against the enemy after the arrival of the French 
forces. He sent to Washington a long list of arguments and 
reasons why the war should be pursued with vigour. First 
he argued that a little enterprise would please the people of 
the country and show them that when they had men suffi- 
cient they did not sulk in their tents. A defeat, he con- 
tended, would have better consequences on the patriotism of 
the nation than inaction, provided that they were not fatally 
routed. Secondly, he contended that the French Court had 
often complained to himself personally that the American 
Army, so successful before the alliance and distinguished 
for their spirit of enterprise, had now ceased its former 
activity, courted no risks, but was content to leave the 
allies to fight their battles. (In this latter assertion of the 
young enthusiast there was more than a semblance of truth.) 
He adds that " I well know the Court of Versailles, and were 
I to present myself there without being in a position to show 
some effective hostilities on the part of the American Army 
I would have little chance of sympathy or support." 

Thirdly," he says, " England will probably before another 
winter call a truce and treat for peace, but will contend for 
sovereignty over you because they look upon you as already 
a half-conquered people." 

Washington, who calculated the risk of an unprepared 
attack, even were he willing to grant the force of the 
Marquis's reasons, considered that the enemy were too strong 
for him to advise offensive warfare under present circum- 
stances, and that for the time being the only course that 
prudence suggested was to watch and wait and prepare for 



AMERICAN DIFFICULTIES AND THEIR REMEDY. 171 

contingencies. " It is impossible," he wrote Lafayette, " to 
desire more ardently than I do to terminate the war by some 
happy stroke, but we must consult our means rather than 
oiu* wishes, and not endeavour to better our affairs by at- 
tempting things which for want of success may make them 
worse. We are to lament that there has been a misappre- 
hension of our circumstances in Europe, but in endeavouring 
to recover our reputation we should take care that we do not 
injure it more." 

It must be remembered that Washington was entirely 
unprepared for action owing to a variety of well-known cir- 
cumstances, but chiefly from deficiency in provisions for the 
troops and on account of the ever-recurring annual dropping 
out of part of the effective troops on the expiration of their 
term of service, as well as the defect in recruits from the 
different States. Again and again the Commander-in-Chief 
made his appeal to Congress, State Governors and Com- 
missary-General for men, arms, magazines, clothing and pro- 
visions, and still his appeals were only partially successful 
in gaining the necessary results. During this period of 
stagnation lie wrote a strong and candid account of the 
defects above referred to : — 

" It is with pain," he said, " I inform Congress that we 
are reduced again to a situation of extremity for want of 
meat, and for some time past our allowance has been re- 
duced to one-half, and one-fourth, and in some instances 
rations are reduced to one-eighth. The men and officers 
have hitherto borne these privations with remarkable forti- 
tude. Some of the regiments, notably two of the Connecti- 
cut line, have mutineered, and with the point of the bayonet 
had to be put under discipline. The troops in the different 
camps around the Hudson are in great distress. They are 
sorely in need of shirts, boots and other garments, and the 
men are clamouring for pay. The paper money is valueless 
and henceforth specie alone must be advanced in payments." 



172 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

In the following extract addressed to Congress at this 
time we may gauge the frame of mind of Washington. The 
cool courage, indomitable fortitude and far-seeing patriotism 
so noticeable in the character of Washington can be seen to 
advantage in those critical periods that tried the souls of all. 

" To me," he says, " it will appear miraculous if our 
affairs can be maintained much longer in their present con- 
dition. If either the temper or the resources of the country 
will not admit of an alteration we may expect soon to be 
reduced to the humiliating condition of seeing the cause of 
America in America upheld by foreign armies. The system 
of short enlistment has been pernicious beyond measure. 
All the misfortunes we have met in the previous years of the 
campaign can be traced to this cause. Had we in 1776 had 
a permanent army, the same men, trained and tried, to 
remain throughout the service, we should not have had to 
retreat across the Delaware and through the Jerseys ; we 
should not have been at the mercy of the enemy at Brandy- 
wine and Valley Forge; nor should we have allowed the 
enemy to capture Philadelphia. We should not have been 
inactive around New York this spring (1781), nor should we 
have allowed the towns and villages of our country to be 
pillaged and burned and the inhabitants murdered with 
impunity. The enemy knows the position of our forces and 
our resources, and for this very reason they are protracting 
the war in the hope to weary us out and exhaust our re- 
sources." 

Not even when the cause was at its lowest ebb, on the 
memorable retreat across the Jerseys, did Washington feel 
so despondent as he did at this juncture. Now he went so 
far in his threats to the nation's representatives as to suggest 
the possibility he might be under of disbanding the army. 
When Cornwallis pressed him across the Delaware in 1776 
he spurned the thought of disbanding and said he would if 
needs be take himself and his brave followers to the moun- 
tain passes, again to renew the attack when recruited ; but 



AMERICAN DIFFICULTIES AND THEIR REMEDY. 173 

early in the war there was a spirit abroad of patriotic fire that 
after five years' fighting seemed dead or dormant. Again 
there w^ere men of genius and patriotism in Congress at that 
time, but now few commanding personalities were amongst 
the factionist leaders in that assembly, whose duty it was to 
enthuse the nation and supply " the sinews of war." The 
thought of disbanding, however, was not a serious considera- 
tion with the General, but he used the expression rather by 
way of a spur to patriotic action in Congress. He adds : 
" If such an alternative should come to pass then truly would 
our cause be hopeless, then would we be at the mercy of a 
merciless foe (and no foe is more merciless than a successful 
sovereign against his rebel subjects), the derision of the 
world, and dishonourable towards our allies, who hoped to 
find us ready when they reached our shores to co-operate 
with them." 

Washington's appeals to Congress were at last becoming 
efiective. The efficiency of the army, both as to the num- 
bers recruited and in regard to their remuneration, was suc- 
cessfully established. In bringing about this happy and 
long-delayed result Washington was ably seconded in his 
appeals to Congress and the States by the French Minister 
in America, who informed the representatives that His Most 
Christian Majesty was led to co-operate in the manner he 
did with the United States on the understanding that an 
equipped force of 25,000 fit troops, backed up by a State 
militia, and sufficient magazines in convenient depots over 
the Union would be supplied by the Americans for the entire 
troops, both continentals and allies. The united voices of 
two nations, through their respective Generals and repre- 
sentatives, so roused the United States that soon hope of a 
speedy and successful result sat upon the arms of the 
Americans and their allies. What the American General 
had been appealing for before he raised the siege of Boston 
was at last adopted — 1st, the men were enlisted to serve for 
the rest of the war; 2nd, the soldiers after the war should 



174 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

receive half pay for seven years, and non-commissioned otfi- 
cers should be allowed eighty dollars at the end of their 
service. 

During the panic and crisis over the defects in the army 
arising from insufficient funds and national apathy, both in 
the individual and the ruling body, affairs in the army at 
certain points became alarming from insubordination arising 
from privations in pay and rations and clothing. Hitherto 
murmurs and grumblings may have arisen, but this under- 
current was soon allayed ; it had never reached the point of 
insubordination to constituted authority, civil or military. 
The Pennsylvania regiments, some thirteen hundred men in 
all, hitherto, with their brave commanders, Wayne and 
Thompson, McKean and others, did giant service in the 
cause from the time they marched under their trusted 
Generals into the ranks at Boston. Now these men refused 
to obey orders from General Wayne and to a man rose in 
mutiny and turned out under arms. They appointed from 
their own ranks sergeants to lead them and under discipline 
of their own choice they marched out of camp in full fighting 
force carrying with them six cannons and their ammunition 
and never halted in their march until they reached Phila- 
delphia, to which place they set out to place their grievances 
before Congress. 

The mutineers set out on their journey on the 1st of 
January, 1781, and were determined to have justice done 
them by their country in whose service they had fought and 
suffered for so many years. General Wayne, whom they 
loved, was powerless to stop them in their mutiny. When 
he, in a commanding voice and with great wrath pointed his 
revolver at them as they passed along his ranks, they fixed 
their bayonets and pointing them at his breast said : 
" General, we love you, we respect you, but fire upon us 
and you are a dead man. We love liberty, but we cannot 
starve." Nothing would now allay their onward march, 
neither trials nor promises. When they had proceeded as 



AMERICAN DIFFICULTIES AND THEIR REMEDY. 175 

far on their route to Congress as Trenton they were met by 
emissaries from Clinton who offered them bribes to join the 
British Army. Their reply was to seize the English spies 
who thus tempted them and executed them before the whole 
army, saying : " We spurn your bribes; we will never become 
Arnolds to sell our country for British gold." Washington 
was justly alarmed at the action of the brave Pennsylvania 
soldiers. Congress did not turn a deaf ear to their petition 
backed up at the point of the bayonet. Soldiers and Con- 
gress entered into an amicable compromise, and then the 
entire body of mutineers marched back to camp on condi- 
tion that those who had completed their term of enlistment 
should be allowed to disband, the others to finish their terms 
of enlistment with an increase in their pay, a supply of 
clothing, and a promise of better rations while in the service 
of Congress. 

Shortly after the revolt in the Pennsylvania line the New 
Jersey regiments revolted. Theu' grievances were similar to 
those of Pennsylvania and common to the whole army. 
When Washington learned of this second mutiny he lost 
no time in taking strong and decisive action. Otherwise his 
authority in the army would be nullified and insubordination 
would become a daily spectacle. General Howe was ordered 
to proceed with a picked body of brave men to proceed by 
quick stages to the scene and in the name of the Comman- 
der-in-Chief to take such strong measures to restore order as 
the serious nature of the case demanded. Anything less by 
way of punishment than capital punishment for the ring- 
leaders would not suppress beyond doubt of repetition the 
damage to authority inflicted by such bold defiance of the 
civil and military authority. The example of Pennsylvania 
making terms with Congress with arms in their hands could 
not be tolerated a second time; hence General Howe's first 
action was to insist on unconditional surrender and then to 
satisfy the end of military justice and authority two of the 
more prominent promoters of the mutiny were paraded before 



176 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the ranks and shot in presence of the whole line. Thus 
ended the cases of insubordination in the ranks of the 
patriots until the army laid down their arms at the end of 
the Revolution. Congress and the individual States now 
truly seized with alarm at the serious aspect of affairs those 
two typical mutinies disclosed, set about in a most earnest 
manner to remedy the defects so often placed before them 
by Washington. 

On a previous occasion we noticed the invaluable aid 
given to the army by the ladies of America. Let us supple- 
ment our reference to their devotion to the cause by a quota- 
tion from Chief Justice Marshall's " Life of Washington " : 

The conduct of the ladies of Philadelphia throughout the 
war," he writes, " was uniform in patriotic endeavour. 
They shared with cheerfulness and gaiety the privations and 
sufferings to which the distress of these times exposed their 
country. In every stage of this severe struggle they dis- 
played virtues which have not always been attributed to 
their sex. With a ready acquiescence, with a firmness 
always cheerful and a constancy never lamenting the sacri- 
fices which were made, they not only yielded up all the 
elegancies, delicacies and even conveniences to be furnished 
b}' wealth and commerce, relying on their own farms and 
produce of their own labour for every article of food and 
raiment, consenting to share without regret all their pos- 
sessions with the soldiers in distress, even pinching them- 
selves and their families for this end. With heroic fortitude 
they even parted with their brothers and husbands to give 
them as soldiers to their country in the war for liberty." 
During this crisis in the winter of '80 and '81 several 
patriotic individuals contributed largely from their private 
iortune, and the merchants of Philadelphia alone in specie 
raised a fund of $315,000, only stipulating that they should 
be repaid at a reasonable time after the financial panic that 
called forth their patriotic zeal had vanished. 



AMERICAN DIFFICULTIES AND THEIR REMEDY. 177 

There was one big-hearted patriot whose munificence and 
disinterested zeal and great wealth, which he placed at the 
disposal of the nation, saved the American cause, when all 
seemed gloom for Washington and his suffering army. We 
refer to Robert Morris of Philadelphia. Morris freely parted 
with his immense wealth in order that the army might not 
lack in the necessaries for doing the nation's work. It 
often happened, when Washington had no other remedy to 
keep his army from perishing, that he applied to Robert 
Morris for pecuniary help, and always with the same liberal 
response. 

Paper money had now become useless. Congress was 
almost powerless to supply the specie to the Commissary- 
General, We find Robert Morris coming on the scene and, 
by placing a million and a half dollars at the disposal of the 
nation for the war, lifting the drooping cause to a high 
plane of financial solvency. 

We find him, moreover, supplying the soldiers with a 
shipload of clothing. He also established a bank on his 
own personal credit, and practically took upon himself, 
when the ebb in the national finances was lowest, the 
exchequer credit of Congress. 

France was perhaps the most munificent of all the many 
agencies which came to the aid of America during the war. 
Benjamin Franklin was instrumental in negotiating many 
loans from the I'rench King and nation during the war. It 
is computed that at different times during the seven or eight 
years Franklin acted as Commissioner at the Court of 
Versailles that he borrowed twenty-six million francs. In 
1777 he borrowed two millions, in '79 he negotiated a loan 
of ten millions, and in '81, the year Lord Comwallis sur- 
rendered at Yorktown, he sent home to America for the 
conduct of the war six millions, and no doubt this latter 
loan had a powerful effect on the eflSciency of the troops 
that forced the brave Comwallis to yield to Washington. 



178 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

It will be interesting to conclude the chapter on financial 
difficulties which as we see above were happily bridged over 
by a combination of fortunate circumstances and self-sacri- 
fice, with a letter to Colonel John Laurens, Minister at Paris, 
written by Washington early in 1781, after the French fleet 
for a second time had proved unable to come to the aid of 
the hard-pressed land forces. This abortive action of the 
fleet that failed at Newport, in New England, to relieve 
Sullivan again failed at Chesapeake to storm Portsmouth 
and capture the traitor Arnold, who was in command in 
these parts of a British regiment, and who had been arrested 
in his burning and butchering raids in Virginia by Baron 
Steuben and the youthful Lafayette. 

Washington felt much the failure to seize Arnold, because, 
as he said, the world was disappointed at not seeing Arnold 
in gibbets. He says in his letter: " It is impracticable to 
carry on the war without aid in money, which you were 
directed to solicit from France." " As an honest man," he 
says, ** and as one whose all depends on the final and happy 
termination of the present contest, I assert this : while I 
give it decisively as my opinion that without a foreign loan 
our present force, which is but the remnant of an army, 
cannot be kept together this campaign, much less will it be 
increased and in readiness for another. If France delays a 
timely aid in this critical posture of our affairs it will avail 
us nothing should she attempt it hereafter. We are at this 
hour suspended in the balance, not from choice, but from 
hard and absolute necessity, and you may rely upon it that 
we are unable to transport the provisions from the States in 
which they are assessed to the army because we cannot pay 
the teamsters, who refuse to work for certificates. In a 
word, we are at the end of our tether, and now or never our 
deliverance must come. With a fleet active on the sea and 
an advance from France of money the ruin of the enemy in 
this country would follow. We could compel them to yield 
the territory they have gained during the past year and force 



AMERICAN DIFFICULTIES AND THEIR REMEDY. 170 

them to concentrate their force at capital points. Otherwise 
we would have them at our mercy everywhere." 

The financial crisis was now happily adjusted, and the 
war from the spring of this year, '81, began to assume a new 
aspect. The victorious Cornwallis, step by step, was com- 
pelled to narrow his lines, call in his outposts, and finally 
entrench himself at the strong seaport of Yorktown, where he 
was entrapped. 

The correspondence between Dr. Franklin, the great 
diplomat and negotiator in all these foreign transactions, and 
Count de Vergennes, the Foreign Secretary of Louis, will 
prove interesting reading in conjunction with above appeal 
from Washington. Franklin said: " I am grown old and 
feeble. I shall not long have any more concern in these 
affairs. I take the present occasion to express to your 
Excellency that our affairs are now in a critical stage (1781). 
Congress may lose control and influence over the people if 
it is unable to procure the necessary aid to carry on the war. 
Should the English again gain sway in America it may 
enable her to become the terror of Europe and to exercise that 
insolence with impunity which is so natural to their nation, 
and which will increase undoubtedly with increase of 
power." 

Holland at this time joined the European League in favour 
of the Americans, and through the intervention of France 
she advanced a substantial sum towards the war fund. 



18(1 I.IFR OF WASHIKQTOX. 



CHAPTER XX. 

KiVAL Addresses Issued by the Contending Parties to the 

American People, and Events and Warfare 

Leading up to Yorktown. 

It was the invariable practice with the British Generals in 
the war to issue from time to time proclamations to the 
people calling on them to return to their alleo:iance to the 
Crown and become loyal subjects. These appeals are so 
numerous that one cannot do more by way of illustrating 
them than select one and leave the reaaer to imagine the 
rest. Ex uno omncs. Cornwallis, from Hillsborough, on 
20th February, 1781, thus proclaims his victories and his 
will: — " Whereas it has pleased Divine Providence to pros- 
per the operations of His Majesty's arms in driving the rebel 
army out of this province, and whereas it is His Majesty's 
most gracious wish to rescue his faithful and loyal subjects 
from the cruel tyranny under which they have groaned for 
many years, I have thought proper to issue this proclamation 
to invite all faithful subjects to repair without loss of time, 
with their arms and ten days' provisions, to the Royal Stan- 
dard now erected at Hillsborough, where they will meet with 
the most friendly reception, and I do hereby assure them 
that I am ready to concur with them in effectual measures 
for suppressing the remains of rebellion in this province and 
for the better establishment of good and constitutional 
government." 

Of course these proclamations had no effect on the so- 
called rebels further than to make them more determined to 
liberate their country ivom foreign government. These leaf- 
lets issued from the Loyalist Press drew forth occasional 
proclamations from Congress to the nation, and we will give 
here a sample of those national appeals to the people, calling 



KIVAL ADDHKSSEa. 181 

upon them to support the army and by every means maintain 
their freedom and independence: — 

Several years have now passed away since the com- 
mencement of this present war : a war without parallel in 
the annals of mankind. On one side we behold fraud and 
violence labouring in the service of despotism. On the 
other virtue and fortitude supporting and establishing the 
rights of human nature. You cannot but remember how 
reluctantly we were dragged into this arduous contest, and 
how repeatedly, with the earnestness of Immble entreaty, 
we supplicated a redress of our grievances from time to time 
from him who ought to have been the father of his people. 
In vain did we implore his protection, in vain appeal to 
justice and the generosity of Englishmen, men who had been 
our guardians, the assertors and vindicators of liberty through 
a succession of ages ; men who with their sword had estab- 
lished the firm barriers of freedom and cemented them with 
the blood of heroes. Every effort was vain, for even whilst 
we were prostrated at the foot of the throne that fatal blow 
was struck which separated us for ever. Thus spurned and 
insulted, thus driven by our enemies into measures which 
our souls abhorred, we made a solemn appeal to the tribunal 
of unerring wisdom and justice, to that Almighty Ruler of 
Princes whose Kingdom is over all. We were then quite 
defenceless, without arms, without ammunition, without 
clothing, without ships, without money, without officers 
skilled in war, with no other reliance than the bravery of 
our people and the justice of our cause. We had to contend 
against a nation great in arts and in arms, whose fleet 
covered the ocean, whose banner had waved in triumph 
through every quarter of the globe. However unequal in 
this contest, our weakness was still further increased by the 
enemies which America had nurtured in her bosom. Thus 
exposed on one side to external forces and internal divisions, 
on the other to contemplate drinking the bitter cup of 
slavery and go sorrowing all our lives long, to thia sad 



182 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

alternative we, like men determined to be free, choose the 
former. 

" But however great the injustice of our foes in com- 
mencing this war, it is by no means equal to that cruelty 
with which they have conducted it. The course of their 
armies has been marked by rapine and devastation. Thou- 
sands, without distinction of age or sex, have been driven 
from their peaceful abodes to encounter the rigours of in- 
clement seasons, and the face of heaven has been insulted 
by the wanton conflagration of defenceless towns. Their 
victories have been followed by the cool murder of men, no 
longer able to assist themselves, and those who escaped from 
the first act of carnage have been exposed to cold, hunger 
and nakedness, to wear out a miserable existence in the 
tedious hours of confinement or to become the destroyers of 
their countrymen, perhaps of their friends — dreadful 
thought 1 — of their parents and children. Nor was this the 
outrageous barbarity of an individual, but a system of deli- 
berate malice, stamped with the concurrence of the British 
Legislature and sanctioned by all the formalities of law. 
Nay, determined to dissolve the closest bonds of society, 
they have stimulated servants to slay their masters in the 
peaceful hour of domestic security. Nay, they have incited 
the Indians against us, and a General who calls himself a 
Christian, a follower of the Merciful Jesus, hath dared to 
proclaim to all the world his intention of letting loose against 
us whole hosts of savages whose rule of warfare is promiscu- 
ous carnage, who rejoice to murder infants smiling in their 
mothers* arms, to inflict on their prisoners the most excru- 
ciating tortures and exhibit scenes of horror at which nature 
recoils." 

The address finally calls on the Sons of Liberty to go to 
their tents and gird for battle. " For the time has come," 
it says, " to avenge the cruelty of our destroyers. They 
have filled up the measure of their abominations and, like 
ripe fruit, must soon drop from the tree. Expect not peace 



RIVAL ADDRESSES. 183 

whilst any comer of America is in possession of the enemy." 
The Congress from which assembly this address was sent 
forth appealed to all Christian ministers to read it from 
their pulpits and to invoke Heaven to bless their arms and 
to confound their adversaries. 

The above battle of proclamations from the contending 
Powers on both sides of the Eevolution will serve as a preface 
for our brief summary of the battles and raids and routs 
between the armies led by Cornwallis in the South against 
the American forces under the famed Nathaniel Greene. 
We saw how helpless the Southern forces were after the 
rout of Gates and the defeat of Lincoln to stem the flowing 
tide of British success in '80 and the beginning of '81. 
Greene was specially selected by Washington to lead what 
was fast becoming a forlorn hope. He had been in charge 
of Westpoint after the trial of Andre, at which he presided. 
When Gates failed to come up to expectations at Camden, 
Greene, the favourite of the Commander-in-Chief, was sent 
as a suitable alter ego to the General to right the wrong and 
rally the drooping spirits and dwindling forces of the con- 
tinental army in the South. He started operations with an 
ill-equipped force of about 2,000 men, for the most part 
militia who had been unaccustomed to active warfare, a 
motley band of ill-provisioned and ill-equipped soldiers. 

Cornwallis was in high spirits owing to his recent success- 
ful campaigns. He was a fearless, brave and fairly honour- 
able foeman. He was ubiquitous and of ceaseless energy. 
His motto was to subdue and conquer and then establish 
English rule with a generous hand over the colonies. The 
Tories were very numerous in the South. The rich planters 
were mostly English in sympathy. Cornwallis could pro- 
cure everywhere amongst them fresh horses, plenty of food, 
and his means of gaining information were reliable. In the 
Northern States things were different for the English, and 
hence the want of success to their arms. 



184 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Greene performed wonders in the South diu'ing the seven 
months' campaign he waged there prior to the capture of 
Yorktown. He evaded, harassed, pursued and attacked the 
enemy, in a manner that placed him in the first rank as a 
brave and tactful General. He by degrees forced the 
English from their strongholds and hemmed them in towards 
the sea. He cut off gradually their chances of drawing sup- 
plies from the interior and forced them to retreat to the 
seaports to escape famine. Greene's success roused the 
friends of liberty in the Southern States and caused the 
timid Tories to shun their quondam friends, so that soon 
they found themselves in the midst of people who were 
either hostile or who shunned them. 

Greene's first plan of campaign was to attack the Tories 
in their strongholds and overawe them. For this purpose he 
ordered General Morgan, who was in a subordinate com- 
mand, to go forth to intercept a band of Loyalists who had 
been recruited as a result of Cornwallis's proclamation. The 
strong action of Morgan in patting to the sword several 
hundreds of these enemies of liberty had a deterrent effect 
on the Tories. 

Cornwallis sent forward his favourite General, Tarleton, 
to give battle to Morgan and prevent his junction with 
Greene, whilst he, with the main ranks, marched forward 
between the main American ranks to help in the operations. 
At the Cowpans, on the 17th January, 1781, Morgan drew 
up his forces in a strong position and prepared for action. 
With skill and resolution Morgan made a most judicious and 
impetuous charge on Tarleton. The action was successful. 
The English General, with all his daring courage, could not 
prevent disorder and rout among his ranks. The lines broke 
in confusion, many escaped and as many as 800 were left 
dead or wounded on the field of battle or captured by the 
American forces. The artillery and all the armaments of 
war fell into Morgan's hands. The rout of Tarleton, who 
was the terror of these parts, put courage into the friends of 



RIVAL ADDRESSES. 185 

liberty, and it might be said that the battle of the Cowpans 
was the turning point in the hitherto victorious British 
campaign in the South. 

Cornwallis, with that indomitable courage for which he 
was noted in the war, renewed his energies to prevent the 
armies of Greene and Morgan from joining, but the American 
Generals were not easily caught napping. Morgan, with 
great speed, crossed over the Gatawaba river after the vic- 
tory, carrying with him both prisoners and baggage, and 
thus escaped a crushing blow from Cornwallis and the main 
English forces, which reached the river two hours after the 
Americans had crossed over. A heavy fall of rain at this 
time had so raised the river's current that Cornwallis was 
compelled to remain twenty -four hours on the opposite bank. 

Morgan, now freed from the pressure of his fast following 
pursuers, sent on to a safe retreat the prisoners and wounded 
that he carried with him from the Cowpans, and soon he 
and Greene joined forces, and Greene took command once 
more of the united forces. Cornwallis was still on the war- 
path in pursuit, and as the armies advanced the British 
General was gaining on the Americans, thanks to his swift 
horses and better means of transit. Of course, both armies 
had cast to one side in this retreating campaign their heavy 
baggage. So close was the pursuit of Cornwallis that in 
twenty-four hours Greene marched his army over miserable 
roads forty miles and took but one meal and slept six hours,, 
under arms. Greene determined at all cost not to be over 
taken nor to give battle until it should suit his plans. Aft^r 
a hunting march of over a hundred miles Cornwallis halted 
and sent out a proclamation calling on the Loyalists to 
come into camp, that he would be their protector, as he was 
the saviour of the South below Virginia. He had subdued 
the rebels in the Southern States. 

Greene after his retreat got time for rest and recruiting 
among the friendly Virginians, and now that his army was 
almost 5,000 strong, although a composite band, unskilled 



i86 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

in action, he determined to give Cornwallis battle at Guilford 
where he had encamped. The battle was fought on the 15th 
March and was stiffly and bravely contested, each General, 
English and American, leading his main forces in person, 
and urging his men to the attack. The militia, as usual, 
gave way early in the contest, and the main fighting was 
sustained on both sides by the regulars. The well-contested 
encounter seemed to favour the British when Cornwallis 
ordered his artillery to be turned on the American lines. The 
artillery firing was of dubious advantage to Cornwallis, as 
the shots killed as many of his own men as of the enemy in 
the confusion. Yet the bold action of Cornwallis was good 
tactics, as it had the effect of arresting the ranks of his own 
troops in retreat. In this action of Cornwallis one can see 
the bold tactics of the brave commander. Under similar 
circumstances Napoleon would have probably acted in a 
similar fashion. 

The battle of Guilford has been claimed iu history by both 
sides. The losses were nearly equal — on the American side 
400 in killed and wounded; the British losses were 500. 
However, Cornwallis was placed by the engagement in a 
much more disadvantageous position. He was among 
strangers and surrounded by enemies who would neither 
supply food nor men, nor give him correct information. 
Hence Guilford and, in fact, Virginia became an unsafe 
camping ground for the English General. Cornwallis soon 
after this engagement became the fugitive, and he took off 
his forces to Wilmington. To Lord Eawdon, a cruel Irish 
General, he gave command of the troops that were to 
protect the conquered Carolinas. 

Greene followed Eawdon with the intention of relieving 
ihe Southern States from British subjection, and at this 
juncture he parted with the militia of Virginia which re- 
mained to protect their own State in conjunction with the 
troops that were arriving from Washington's main army in 
the North. A battle in which both sides claimed victory 



RIVAL ADDRESSES. 187 

was fought at Camden between Kawdon and Greene. One 
result followed from all these engagements during the spring 
and summer of 1781, viz., the British found it difficult to 
maintain their posts in the interior and were constantly 
heading their troops towards the seaboard and leaving the 
country in the hands of the Patriots. 

The British Generals had no reliable scouting parties to 
keep them posted in the movements of the enemy. The 
case was otherwise with the Americans in those Southern 
parts. Hence caution was necessary to prevent the army 
of Cornwallis from blindly falling into the power of the brave 
Greene, Morgan, Marion, or Sumpter, who were among a 
friendly people, who gave them food and forage freely and 
the latest information about the enemy. 

After a siege under the direction of the famed Pole, 
Kosciusko, of twenty-nine days, Fort Ninety- Six, in which 
Rawdon was entrenched, was abandoned by Greene, to be 
again attacked and captured by this General after he had 
made a feint of retreating from the storming of the enemy's 
position. 

Lord Eawdon was amongst the most cruel of the British 
Generals in the Revolution, and now that Greene was press- 
ing him to contract his lines he became very harsh towards 
any prisoners who had formerly been in his own ranks from 
compulsion. It may be here noted that the country through 
which the armies passed was for the most part left tenant- 
less. Those with Tory sympathies flocked to the British 
camp for protection, and many of the patriot party who 
refused allegiance to the enemy trekked across the borders 
towards Tennessee and Kentucky. 

"Whilst General Greene was with marked success liberat- 
ing the Carolinas and Georgia from British sway and hem- 
ming them in in the two fortified seaports of Charleston 
and Havanna, Cornwallis was making efforts to form a junc- 
ture with the traitor Arnold, who had some time previous 
arrived from New York in command of 1,400 troops destined 



1B8 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

to aid in the subjugation of Virginia. Washington, who 
desired nothing more earnestly than the capture of the 
traitor, sent Lafayette to intercept him in his cruel crusade 
of burning and butchery in and around Portsmouth. Had 
the French fleet despatched at this time from the North 
been successful in co-operating with the land forces under 
Lafayette there is no doubt that Arnold would have been 
sun-ounded and captured at Portsmouth. As it was, 
Lafayette made heroic efforts to circumvent him, but so 
wary a soldier was not to be caught easily in a trap, and 
hence, under the protection of the British fleet, he soon 
abandoned Virginia and sailed North for further orders from 
Clinton. Lafayette, now that he was joined by Baron 
Reuben and General Anthony Wayne, had under him 4,000 
soldiers, and in the absence of x\rnold as a foe he turned 
towards Cornwallis and his famous light horse scouter, 
Tarleton, Cornwallis commenced in his march through 
Virginia a most destructive campaign of pillage and burning 
and terrorising as he passed along. The numbers in the 
British ranks at Richmond when Lafayette proposed to give 
them battle were 8,000. 

At Richmond Cornwallis, confident of a victorious cam- 
paign, attacked and pillaged this important city, seized the 
House of Burgesses and even captured some of the Repre- 
sentatives. Jefferson, who was Governor of the State, only 
escaped capture by flight. 

Lafayette in his manoeuvring with the enemy proved 
himself as a General among the first rank, though in real 
danger from which it was hopeless to escape, he succeeded, 
by keeping his light troops on the move in the rear of the 
enemy, and inflicted no inconsiderable injury on their out- 
flanks. 

Sir Henry Clinton at this jimcture became alarmed, from 
information received from intercepted letters that were pass- 
ing to and from Washington, that the American General 
contemplated an immediate attack on New York with the 







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U£FLECTIONS ON TUE WAR. 189 

combined allied forces, and Clinton presumed that the troops 
at hand for resistance would have been unable to cope with 
an attack by sea and land. Accordingly he ordered Corn- 
wallis to bring the Virginian campaign to a close, take up a 
strong position on the Chesapeake and detach a strong con- 
tingent for New York. 

It was no doubt Washington's ardent wish to capture 
New York, and to accomplish this object he had been in 
consultation with the French forces in the New England 
States in hopes that when the troops about to reach America 
from France should arrive thev would all make a vigorous 
effort to attack the Commander-in-Chief and his army in 
their headquarters at New York. 

As we saw in our chapter on the capture of Yorktown in 
Washington to Roosevelt," all their plans were upset by 
circumstances that, though at the time disappointing 
to Washington, proved a blessing in disguise, and were the 
means under Providence that not alone brought about the 
capture of the greatest of the English Generals in the Revo- 
lution, but led to the final settlement of the War for 
Independence. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Reflections on the War. — Causes Leading up to Final 

Victory. 

The capture of Cc^nwallis and his entire army at Yorktown 
might be said to have virtually closed the wars of the 
Revolution. The combined forces, American and French, 
amounting in all to 16,000, under the supreme command 
of Washington, were the immediate cause of the great vic- 
tory, but a little summary of the causes leading up to and 
conditions sine qua non may be to the point in this connec- 
tion. When Gates was defeated and his army of 6,000 
routed and captured, bag and baggage, the Southern part 



190 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

of the Union was practically in the hands of the British 
Generals and the cruel Tories reigned supreme from Vir- 
ginia to Georgia. The army under Washington in the North 
was unfit for bold frontal fighting, owing to many causes, 
but chiefly from want of funds, and what funds could pro- 
cure. Prior to the capture of Yorktown funds had been 
obtained and the wants of the army supplied. Mr. 
Laurens had been sent by Washington's express wish to 
the Court of Louis to apply urgently for a loan. Franklin 
was at Paris most of the period of the Eevolution, and we 
have seen the giant work he executed in the cause of his 
country by his diplomacy, tact, wit and science. His great 
genius and popularity were entirely all those years at the 
service of his country. These friends of the Eevolution pro- 
cured a gratuitous personal loan from the Catholic King. 
The exchequer was too low at Versailles to procure a loan on 
the Treasury. Holland also advanced a considerable subsidy, 
after the above channels had already been tapped time 
and again, and after the patriotism of the ladies of Phila- 
delphia, headed by Mrs. Eeid and Morris and others had 
set the lead to the ladies of Liberty over the Union selling 
their jewels, living sparingly, knitting, sewing and for- 
warding in tens of thousands articles of clothing to the 
army confined to camp, often from necessity, and in their 
distress often showing more patriotism than in marching 
against the foe, cheered by their companions and applauded 
by their countrymen as they advanced. But the master 
hand who undertook to grapple with the financial difficulties 
of the country and procure supplies for the combined 
forces under Washington was Eobert Morris, a native 
of England, then a Pennsylvanian citizen, who came 
over to America at fifteen years of age, entered busi- 
ness and soon became the leading commercial business man 
in Philadelphia. The Carrolls of CarroUtown, the Lynches 
and the Moylans, originally from the South of Ireland, were 
also great financial benefactors in the crisis. Of Morris 



REFLECTIONS ON THE WAR. 191 

Sullivan says: " He devoted himself to the patriot side in 
the revolutionary contest. He had acquired great wealth as 
a merchant, and he cheerfully risked it all to gain the inde- 
pendence of his adopted country. The final success of the 
Eevolution depended no less on his ability and industry than 
on the armies with Washington as chief. At one time he 
had used his own credit to the extent of 1,400,000 dollars to 
sustain the credit of the United States. At a critical 
moment he had presented the suffering army with a whole 
shipload of clothing and ammunition. Under his auspices a 
national bank was established which proved a most popular 
auxiliary to Congress. Under the able management of 
Morris public credit revived and a new impulse was com- 
municated to all the operations of government. He ac- 
cepted the position of Treasurer of Finance and by his 
agency specie alone was paid in every business transaction 
to the end of the war." 

When General Greene assumed command of the army of 
the Eevolution in the South he was confronted with a task 
apparently insurmountable. It was his task, with an ill- 
provided-for and an inexperienced militia, to meet that 
hitherto most successful General, Cornwallis, and his large 
army of 8,000, his brave subordinate officers, perhaps the 
bravest of the Eevolution on the English side, Tarleton, 
Ferguson, Eawdon, Leslie, and their powerful Loyalist 
allies, the rich planters and shippers of the Carolinas and 
Virginia and adjoining States, who had flocked to the stand- 
ard of the conquering '* De Wet " of the South. Under 
Greene was the brave County Derry Irishman, Morgan, who 
had so distinguished himself at Saratoga. These two effi- 
cient and brave commanders, with Lafayette, who was in a 
more northern command in Virginia, soon silenced the Tory 
allies, hunted the perfidious Arnold back to his Northern 
camp, to commit cruelties amongst his New England coun- 
trymen along the coastline, by their Fabian tactics, their 
Boer-like raids and marches with little baggage, crossing 



102 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

fords and rivers, pulling down bridges and drawing away 
Comwallis from his safe Southern conquered territory, but, 
unlike the Boers, evading the vigilance of the British General. 
Greene was too clever to be caught like a rat in a trap, 
burrowing in the banks of the river; nay, rather he was 
inveigling the English army into a territory where they 
found neither friends nor forage and from which they were 
glad to recede towards the coast for the protection of their 
powerful fleet, which was hovering near Virginia. But poor 
brave Comwallis and his fine army found their Saratoga at 
Yorktown. 

Thus by the indomitable energy of Greene, by the 
patriotism and financial skill and generosity of Morris, by 
the diplomacy of Franklin, the aid of the Daughters of 
Liberty, the army and navy under Rochambeau and De 
Grasse, and, above all, by the calm, placid, brave, fearless, 
patient and sagacious Washington, the defeat of the British 
Army was effected on the 19th October, 1781, at Yorktown. 

The surrender of Yorktown practically ended the war; 
General Greene some months later recovered the entire 
South from the English garrison, and soon the army, under 
Sir Henry Clinton, and later under Sir Guy Carleton, was 
confined to their last stronghold, New York. Here they 
remained till the 25th November, 1782, when the last British 
soldier took shipping from the shores of America amid the 
general rejoicing of the people. 

One may now enquire at what points in the campaign for 
liberty during seven weary, waiting, watchful years the name 
and fame of Washington shines brightest in the light of his- 
tory. Contemporary history would seem to place the 
greatest achievement of the General not at Boston, not at 
Valley Forge, not at Yorktown, nor at any other pomt than 
his heroic and hopeless retreat across the Jerseys in the winter 
of 1776, and his victories in the dead frost and snow with 
a famishing remnant of an army at Trenton and Princeton 
across the Delaware. Comwallis, on the occasion of a ban- 



REFLECTIONS ON THE WAR. 193 

quet given him and his officers by Washington in conjunc- 
tion with his honoured French allies after the capitulation of 
Yorktown, said, in reply to his toast as drunk with feeling 
by the French and American officers : " When the illustrious 
part your Excellency has borne in this long and arduous con- 
test becomes matter for history you will gather your highest 
laurels from the banks of the Delaware rather than from 
the Chesapeake." The following anecdote gives a witty but 
fair comment of the part played by George Washington in 
the Revolution : Long after Washington's victories had made 
his name famous over Europe Franklin chanced to dine with 
the English and French Ambassadors at the seat of Congress, 
when the following toasts were proposed by the representa- 
tives of their respective countries. The Englishman said : 
" Let us drink to the prosperity of England, the sun whose 
beams enlighten and fructify the remotest corners of the 
earth." The Frenchman enthused with national pride, but 
too tactful to be discourteous to his English brother said : 
" Here's to France, the moon whose mild, steady and cheery 
rays are the delight of nations, consoling them in their gloom 
and making their dreariness beautiful." Franklin toasting 
his native America said: "Here's to George Washington, 
the Joshua who commanded the sun and moon to stand still 
and they obeyed him." 



K 



194 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Washington and his xA.rmy. — Difficulties to Keep Down 

Insurrection. — The Love of Army for General. 

— Society of Cincinnati. — Washington 

Taking Leave of Army 

and Congress. 

If Washington was kind and considerate towards the army, 
if he pressed Congress to assist them in their distress during 
their term of service, he was also a strict disciplinarian and 
allowed no infraction of rules, no insubordination to those in 
command. Theft, peculation, cruelty to the enemy or pris- 
oners or insults of any kind by one religious denomination 
towards another were all severely reprimanded by him. We 
saw how he punished some New Englanders for cursing the 
Pope and using bad language or uttering blasphemy. He 
caused to be discontinued the practice so common among 
dissenters in anti-revolution tim^es of burning the Pope's 
effigy on the 5th of November. When his army seized the 
effects of the Ealle army at Trenton it was found that the 
knapsacks of the Hessians v/ere filled with articles plundered 
from the inhabitants of New Jersey as they marched through 
that State triumphant. These valuables thus recovered he 
restored to their lawful owners when proof of ownership was 
forthcoming. He was firm in carrying out the army regula- 
tions, in punishing spies as well as traitors, and when cruelty 
was practised towards prisoners by the enemy he remon- 
strated and as a rule with effect, and rarely had he recourse 
to retaliation by way of punishing cruelty or injustice per- 
petrated by the British on his own army or on subjects of the 
Union. 

The army loved their General, but sometimes hunger and 
want will burst all bounds, and thus we find the Pennsylvania 
line under General Wawe rising in insubordination and 



WASHINGTON AND HIS ARMY. 195 

marching without orders to Philadelphia to lay their wants 
before Congress and at the point of the bayonet demand 
terms from the civil authorities. Their grievances were 
acknowledged and redressed and the insurrection was passed 
over without anyone being courtmartialled. Soon after we 
find the Jersey line imitating the example set them by 
Wayne's regiment and refusing to obey their officers. This 
time Washington was less indulgent. He dispatched a brave 
corps of veterans under an experienced officer to put down 
the anarchy and to inflict summary punishment. Two of the 
ringleaders were shot in front of the army and thus ended 
till the end of the war all insubordination to military 
authority in the army. Well miight Washington towards the 
end of the war have used his great powers and the strong 
hold he had on the affections of the soldiers to establish a 
military dictatorship and seize the reins of power and autho- 
rity over the nation which he and his army spent themselves 
to establish. Some there are who hold that a military dic- 
tatorship would have been lawful under the peculiar circum- 
stances. Union was desired and was a necessity if the 
nation was to rehabilitate itself and become a power among 
the nations ; but factional and sectional and local difficulties 
militated against the cohesion necessary for an efficient 
union embracing the thirteen States and solidifying them 
under a Government with an Executive, a Legislature and 
a Judicial division of power and authority reaching from end 
to end of the United States. Cromwell would have seized 
the opportunity, presented by a distracted country and a 
loyal army, and placed himself at the head of the American 
Republic, perhaps allowed the army to place a crown upon 
his ambitious brow. He would have roused the public mind 
by false alarms, rumours and wild fears among the people. 
He would have used a " Pride's purge " upon the Congress 
in Philadelphia and turned out, as did Cromwell, all who 
refused to bend the knee to the dictator. Washington might 
have repeated this page of English history and found a 



196 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

parallel in the revolution in England that remodelled the 
Constitution and placed a military commoner as civil ruler 
over the mightiest nation on earth, and he might thus have 
set a precedent for Napoleon. Both before that day and 
since examples are numerous of the power inherent in the 
command of a powerful army. Pitt and Castlereagh when 
they wished to overawe poor Ireland, rob her of liberty and 
annex her, tie her hand and foot to the throne and constitu- 
tion of England, to be bled and devoured ever since, sent 
over an army of almost 150,000 to goad her to rebellion, 
butcher her sons, pillage her homes and burn and destroy 
her property. She had a military barrack erected near the 
Irish Parliament House to aid in the wholesale bribery, cor- 
ruption and intimidation of her Parliament prior to the 
passing of the Union in 1800. Nay, was it not through the 
power and from dread of our citizen army of Irish Volunteers 
that Grattan was able, in 1782, to carry through Parliament 
the establishment of a native Parliament? 

But nothing was further from Washington's thoughts than 
to take such a course and act such a part. He fought for 
his country's freedom under Congress and never did he ex- 
ceed the powers assigned him by the civil authorities, whose 
servant he was and whose will for eight long years as General 
was his law. No ; you will see him handing up his commis- 
sion at the end of the war just before departing for his 
beloved home to the President and Congress. You will see 
him returning humble thankfulness that he was able to lead 
the nation's army to victory at every turn in the fortunes of 
war, submit to the decrees and directions of the civil power ; 
nay, when one Colonel Armstrong, acting for a faction in the 
army just before its disbandment, drew up a most inflam- 
matory address or circular which was published among the 
ranks as well as being forwarded to Congress, representing 
that the army should not disband, having still their arms 
with them, and go away singly to their homes to be neglected 
and to become paupers in their separate parishes and dis- 



WASHINGTON AND HIS ARMY. 197 

tricts, and that Congress was not to be trusted, as their past 
record showed. 

Washington immediately recognised the crisis this rash 
circular might bring about, and loving the army he had the 
courage to oppose their mutinous spirit, successfully har- 
angued them, and succeeded in quelling the budding insu- 
bordination, which might have proved fatal to their well- 
earned freedom, and from the army he received an address of 
patriotic attachment to his person. 

The warm affection in which Washington held the troops 
who served under him during the war was well exhibited 
when the time at last arrived to bid farewell to them and 
resign his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
into the hands of Congress. It was on the 25th of Novem- 
ber, 1783, after the English forces had sailed from New York, 
that the civil and military authorities in triumph entered 
that city, amidst the joy and acclaim of a free people. It 
was New York that Washington selected on the occasion of 
his occupation of the last stronghold of British power in 
America as the place in which he should part with his 
beloved army and bid them a final adieu. The occasion was 
a severe ordeal for the General, to say farewell to those brave 
men who had become so much to him by the many links that 
bind an army and General together. They had become 
deeply attached to each other during eight long years of toil 
and trials. In all dangers, all fatigues, all circumstances of 
privation and want they renewed their hopes and drooping 
courage by the consolation that their beloved chief was near 
them, sharing their lot, always hopeful and ever cool and 
calm and confident of final success to their arms. The 
parting scenes on this historic occasion cannot be better 
described than by quoting from the graphic account of the 
scene from Chief Justice Marshall, then a youth, and later 
the biographer of Washington: — "At noon the principal 
ofi&cers of the army assembled at Francis Tavern, soon after 
which their beloved commander entered the room. His 



198 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling a glass he 
turned to them and said with a heart full of love and 
gratitude : * I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish 
that your later days may be as prosperous and happy as 
your former have been glorious and honourable.' Having 
drunk he added : * I cannot come to each of you to take 
leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take 
me by the hand.' " In the most affectionate manner he took 
leave of each succeeding officer. The tears of manly sensi- 
bility were in every eye, and not a word was articulated to 
interrupt the dignified silence and tenderness of the scene. 
Leaving fhe room he passed through the corps of light 
infantry and walked to the White Hall, where at the water's 
edge a barque was in readiness to convey him to Paulus 
Hook. The whole company followed in silent procession 
with solemn countenance and melancholy dejection, testify- 
ing better than words can describe their pent-up feelings. 
He quietly entered the barque, and as she sailed away he 
raised his hat in silence and thus he signalled them a last 
adieu. He now turns his course towards Maryland to meet 
Congress, then at Annapolis, where they had transferred 
their seat of deliberations from Princeton. With what feel- 
ings did he now cross over the routes by which he seven 
years previously retreated from New York, defeated and 
dejected, with his troops on the brink of starvation and 
almost naked, and his army almost annihilated in battle and 
from desertions. " These were the days that truly tried the 
souls of men. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot 
will," said Paine, " shrink from the service of his country, 
but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of 
men and women. Tyranny like hell is not easily conquered, 
yet we have this consolation with us that the harder the 
conflict the more glorious the triumph." This second jour- 
ney across the Jerseys was the triumphal march of a mighty 
General advancing victorious to receive the laurels of victory 
on his brow from the hands of his grateful countrymen. 



WASHINGTON AND HIS ARMY. 199 

When he arrived at the seat of Government he placed in 
the hands of the Controller an account of his personal ex- 
penses during the eight years he led his country's armies, 
and then he informed the President that he was prepared to 
resign his command into his hands as representing the 
nation. It was decided to give him a public reception on the 
occasion when the public and Congress should be present to 
do honour to the liberator of their country. When the 
appointed time came that W^ashington should formally give 
up his commission he addressed these words to the Assembly 
with a majesty and dignity peculiarly his own. i\.fter con- 
gratulating the Assembly on the happy termination of the 
war he added : " Having now finished my work I retire from 
the theatre of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to 
this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, 
I here offer my commission and take leave of public life.'* 

It was truly an impressive scene to witness that noble 
soldier in solemn silence and with military bearing, approach 
the President's chair and deliver into his hands, in presence 
of that vast assembly, who stood in respectful silence, the 
commission he received at the commencement of the war. 

Mifflin was then President of Congress, and it was most 
remarkable that the President was amongst those who 
plotted against the General in those evil days when revilers 
in the plot known as " Conway's Cabal " were undermining 
his power in the army and defaming him to the Assembly 
and country. Let the words of Mifflin show how much 
Congress honoured him and how grateful the country was to 
their deliverer : — 

" Sir, the United States in Congress assembled receive 
with emotions too affecting for utterance the solemn resig- 
nation of the authority under which you have led their troops 
with success through a perilous and doubtful war. Called 
upon by your country to defend its invaded rights, you 
accepted the sacred charge before it had formed alliances, 
and while it was without funds or a Government to support 



200 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

you. You have conducted the great mihtary contest with 
wisdom and fortitude, invariably regarding the rights of the 
civil power, through all disasters and changes. You have, 
by the love and confidence of your fellow-citizens enabled 
them to display their martial genius and transmit their fame 
to posterity. You have persevered until these United 
States, aided by a magnanimous King and nation, have been 
enabled under a wise Providence to close the war in freedom, 
safety and independence, on which happy event we sincerely 
join you in congratulations. Having defended the standard 
of liberty in this New World, having taught a lesson useful 
to those who feel oppression, you retire from the great 
theatre of action with the blessing of your fellow-citizens. 
But the glory of your virtues will not terminate with your 
military command : it will continue to animate remotest 
ages." 

Now Washington was free from official cares. At the 
conclusion of this interesting ceremony he exchanged salu- 
tations with the members of Congress, who rose as he retired 
from the house. A dense mass of his fellow-citizens 
thronged the way as he passed along from the Congress Hall, 
and by their repeated acclamations testified their love and 
gratitude. It was with unfeigned joy he hastened home to 
his loved Mount Vernon, the home of his domestic affections, 
where during those long eight years he rarely, except on a 
few hurried visits, entered. His public duties only rendered 
the fond desire of domestic peace and retirement dearer. 
The natural longing of his heart was at last gratified. His 
wish to return after the toils and trials of the war for liberty 
and under the shadow of his own vine on the banks of the 
Potomac end his days in peace was at last realised. He 
wrote soon after his arrival in Virginia to Governor Clinton 
as follows: "The scene is at last closed. I feel myself 
relieved from a load of care and hope now to spend the 
remainder of my days cultivating the affections of good meiJ 
in the practice of domestic virtues," 



WASHINGTON AND HIS ARMY. 201 

But he was not yet allowed to enjoy that seclusion and 
repose he so longed for. Every day brought hhxi addresses 
from affectionate and grateful people over the length and 
breadth of the States, and these acts of public recognition 
continued for many months after he had retired into private 
life. Congress also did not rest with merely offering him an 
address : they unanimously voted that an equestrian statue 
should be made of bronze representing the General sitting 
on his famous steed, and a suitable inscription and basso- 
relief representing the principal events of the war, and 
erected in the capital. Virginia in its Congress voted him a 
marble statue with suitable inscription, to be erected in the 
capital of the State. 

We must not forget here to record the expressed gratitude 
of General Washington for the Divine protection afforded 
him during the course of the war. He attributes to the 
interposition of Providence the blessing of so successful a 
termination. He says he was supported throughout by the 
patronage of Heaven, and he does not forget when bidding 
farewell to public life to recommend the interests of his 
dearest country to the protection of Almighty God as well 
as those who have the superintendence of them. During 
the course of the war his prayers for success never ceased, 
and his confidence in the goodness of the Deity to bring him 
and the cause he fought for safely to the end and to freedom 
never forsook him. 

We shall now end this epoch of American history, wound 
up as it has been mainty with the life of Washington, by 
giving a long extract from an address of his to the people of 
America. 

" The citizens of America, placed in the most enviable 
condition as the sole lords and proprietors of a vast tract of 
continent, comprehending all the various soils and climates 
of the world and abounding with all necessaries and conveni- 
ences of life, are now, by the late satisfactory pacification, 
gcknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and inde- 



202 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

pendency. They are from this period to be considered as the 
actors in a most conspicuous theatre which seems to be 
pecuHarly designated by Providence for the display of human 
greatness and feHcity. Here they are not only surrounded 
with everything which can contribute to the completion of 
private and domestic happiness, but heaven has crowned all 
its other blessings by giving a fairer opportunity for political 
happiness than any other nation has ever been favoured 
with. Nothing can illustrate these observations more for- 
cibly than a recollection of the happy conjunction of times 
and circumstances under which our Bepublic assumed its 
rank among the nations. The foundation of our Empire was 
not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition, but 
at an epoch when the rights of mankind were better under- 
stood and more clearly defined than at any former period. 
The researches of the human mind after social happiness 
have been carried to a great extent; the treasures of know- 
ledge acquired by the labours of philosophers, sages and 
legislators, through a long succession of years, are laid open 
for our use, and their collected wisdom may be happily 
applied in the establishment of our forms of Government. 
The free cultivation of letters, the unbounded extension of 
commerce, the progressive refinement of manners, the grow- 
ing liberality of sentiment, and, above all, the pure and 
benign light of Eevelation, have had a meliorating influence 
on mankind and increased the blessings of society. At this 
auspicious period the United States came into existence as 
a nation, and if their citizens should not be completely happy 
the fault will be entirely their own." 



HOME LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 203 

CHAPTEE XXIII. 

Home Life at Mount Vernon from 1783 to 1789. 

When Washington retired from the arena of public life, as he 
fondly, though vainly, hoped for ever, he began to mix in 
that homel}^ circle around Mount Vernon so congenial to a 
country farmer. His desire was to be free from official life 
and publicity, but as we shall see later privacy was not so 
easy to attain for a man whose fame was world-wide. Had 
he been made prisoner, like Napoleon, and confined on a 
lonely island, some degree of that rest so longed for might 
have been his ; but not even the retired position of the 
mansion on the lovely Potomac could v/ard off the army of 
artists, litterateurs, sculptors and painters, soldiers and 
statesmen from all parts who sought him out in his retire- 
ment. He ambitioned nothing higher than to sit down 
under his own vine and fig-tree and devote himself to the 
quiet pleasures of rural life. In youth his zeal was for war; 
a martial life was an hereditary occupation in his family 
history from the days of the ill-fated Charles I. and back 
to the days when his progenitors came over with Edward 
from Normandy. Now he had more sane and mature ideas 
of war : his ideas on war were always sane and just. Of war 
he writes in 1784: " How pitiful in the age of reason and 
religion is the false ambition which desolates the world with 
fire and sword for the purpose of conquest and fame com- 
pared to the milder virtues of making our neighbours and 
our fellow-men as happy as their frail convictions and perish- 
able natures will permit them." 

Sentimentality had little sway with his practical mind. 
Earely did he unbend himself in yielding to the little and 
common places of ordinary mortals. As a friend he was 
sincere, faithful and true. He was on intimate terms with 
few outside his own household : perhaps the Marquis of 



204 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Lafayette and General Knox were his most intimate acquain- 
tances. The two, especially the former, he looked upon as 
close and personal friends, and the attachment he had for 
the young Frenchman was lasting and persevering under 
every wave of his varied and chequered life. When parting 
with him at Mount Vernon in '84 to see him for the last 
time he could not trust himself to say good-bye, but wrote 
him later how he felt on the occasion, and his letter, still 
extant, reveals a sentimental side in his Stoic-like character 
that was most unusual. In this letter, after tenderly be- 
wailing their severance, he prophetically remarks that com- 
ing as he does from a short-lived race he cannot now, at the 
age of forty-two, expect to meet again his more than friend 
on this side of the grave. 

Those who were strangers to his person and who came 
into his presence impressed with his great renown, and who 
saw in him only the great general, statesman and father of 
his country, could not feel entirely at ease before him, 
though nothing was more congenial to his ideas of what he 
expected of visitors and acquaintances than that they should 
approach him and feel confidence without confusion. He 
did not relish the respect which his presence inspired when 
on his entering to mix in or witness sociality and fun at 
social gatherings all seemed to stop abashed and to act with 
caution and reserve. However, his secretary, who knew him 
best, records that not only did he inspire respect and a 
certain admiration, but that he grew more and more on your 
esteem the longer you knew him. 

Many eminent painters and sculptors visited him to be 
privileged to perpetuate his name by their art, and from the 
accounts we have extant of their impressions of him we can 
glean that he was a difficult subject for a portrait-painter or 
sculptor to elicit the expression required. Not alone did this 
arise from the profound respect and deep interest from long 
anticipations which the artist fostered in his mind, but from 
the inflexible character upon which to scintillate their wit 



HOME LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 205 

and humour to draw forth the desired expression. Facility 
of adaptation is seldom found connected with great individu- 
ality. A man whose entire life has been one of responsibility 
and whose prominent virtues are good sense and uprighteous- 
ness, cannot be expected to yield to fliglits of geniality and 
lose self-control and reflection. There were few subjects on 
which an artistic mind could interest a man whose chief 
hobbies were in the science of arms and agriculture. He 
was grave and reserved by nature, more a man of action than 
of words. Hence one who has been said to have carried in 
his brain the vast interests of his native America was not 
easily moulded by the artist no matter how versatile he 
might have been acting in the light of his profession to gain 
expressiveness in the subject. A David might have pro- 
duced an ideal hero, noble, erect, defiant on his prancing 
charger, but few could, without much study and patience, 
produce a real life picture of Washington. 

That Washington was not averse to unbend himself at 
times is known to those acquainted with his life. Though 
habitually of a grave disposition and thoughtful nature he 
was sociable and loved to see others enjoy themselves. He 
was, as were all Virginians in his day, fond of dancing, and 
many ancient dames in the beginning of the last century who 
had been belles in the time of the Eevolution, were proud to 
boast that they had danced minuets with him or had him 
for partner in contra-dances. Balls were of frequent occur- 
rence in camp in winter quarters among the officers and their 
wives in the dark days of the war, and we are told how the 
General on one occasion danced for upwards of three hours 
without once sitting down with Mrs. Greene, wife of the 
famous General. 

At the end of the war and after he had settled his 
accounts with Congress for the necessary expenses of his 
eight years' war he found himself, except for the large plan- 
tations, four in number, which he possessed (the Mount 
Vernon estate alone contained six thousand acres), low in 



'^06 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

finance. His affairs were more or less neglected. Lud 
Washington, his agent, in his absence was not an ideal 
manager, although by letter and through maps and plans and 
by general directions which he regularly sent forward from 
camp to his agent he was in constant touch with every 
detail of his personal affairs, and he had directions con- 
stantly transmitted how his estate should be managed. One 
direction to his agent was that at least fifty pounds each year 
should be distributed in a judicious manner to the poor just 
as if he were at home himself. Out of gratitude for his 
public services to the nation many States offered to make 
him some recompense, some by money presentations, others 
by offering him shares in companies or by allocating to him 
territory in their dominions. 

Jefferson was in Paris and he consulted him about the 
advisability of such a course as accepting money, etc., for 
his services on behalf of liberty, Jefferson thus wrote: — 

My wishes to see you made perfectly easy by receiving 
these returns of gratitude from your country to which you 
are entitled would induce me to be contented with saying 
what is a certain truth, that the world would be pleased 
with seeing them heaped upon you and vv'ould consider your 
receiving them as no derogation from your reputation. But 
I must confess that declining them will add to your repu- 
tation, as it will show your motives have been pure without 
alloy. Still the receiving them will not in the least lessen 
the respect of the world if from any circumstance they would 
be convenient to you." Jefferson was right in saying that 
his country nor posterity would not hold him less in esteem 
by acceptance of gifts from the gratitude for services ren- 
dered to their country. Pitt was made an Earl and received 
an estate from George III. No doubt George desired to put 
on the pension list the giant statesman who was too broad- 
minded for George, and his first favourite, Bute. Grattan 
does not less deserve well of Ireland because his country so 
beneficed him after 1782 that he, though poor, was able to 
devote his entire energies to the cause of his native land. 



HOME LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 207 

Some time after his arrival home Washington and his old 
friend, Dr. Craik, made a tour of the western territory 
around the Ohio. Here he passed along the tracts so fami- 
liar to him in the colonial wars in the 'fifties. He trekked 
across the ground over which Braddock passed; he visited 
the Great Meadows and Forts Pitt and Necessity ; he vievv^ed 
those scenes of boyhood over which he surveyed and along 
which he spent years protecting from the sudden onslaughts 
and raids of the French and their Indian allies. When he 
returned to his home he presented himself before the Vir- 
ginian Congress and proposed the necessity for the State to 
open channels by water from east to west so that the in- 
creasing trade in those frontier regions might not go north 
through the Canadian Lakes and so to English channels, nor 
south by the Mississippi into Spanish grooves. His inter- 
vention in this matter supplemented the good work of 
George Clarke during the Kevolution and saved the West 
to the United States. 

At this time he describes his simple mode of life to a 
friend: — " I rise before sunrise each morning, breakfast at 
7.30; soon after ride over my estate and among my work- 
men; inspect the works and give directions to my stewards 
and servants; return after noon, 2.30 p.m." Then he rested 
himself, looked over his correspondence and read from four 
to nine. He retired to rest at ten o'clock. There were no 
luxuries at his board, but strangers might never expect less 
hospitality than a glass of wine and a bit of mutton. 

Soon after his return home he took in a most natural 
manner the role of a country farmer of the Virginian type. 
The transition from Commander-in-Chief to that of a private 
gentleman was agreeable and natural to him. In Mrs. 
Washington he had an ideal hostess and an agreeable and 
loving companion. It has been said of him that the only 
two daughters of Eve to whom he bent the knee were his 
mother and his wife. To them he was dutiful, devoted and 
true till death, and they were worthy of his dutiful affection. 



208 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Mrs. Washington shared all his joys and sorrows in Mount 
Vernon and in the more trying scenes in the war. She 
graced the camp and was a wise counsellor and example to 
the ladies of the camp. She had a cheerful, winsome man- 
ner and was prudent and frugal in her domestic manage- 
ment. She, like her husband, was devoted to work, and when 
not otherwise engaged she spent her leisure moments knitting 
and sewing, a habit which she turned to good account on 
behalf of the famished army in the Revolution. Like her 
husband, too, she was devoted to rural quietness and domes- 
tic joys at Mount Vernon, and never did she think, as she 
wrote a friend, was it possible under any circumstances that 
the General would be called upon to enter public life. ** I 
had anticipated," said she, " that we should be suffered to 
grow old together in solitude and tranquility. That was the 
first and the dearest wish of my heart. When I was 
younger I might have enjoyed the gaieties of public life, but 
I have long since placed all my future worldly happiness in 
the still enjoyment of the fireside at Mount Vernon." 

We know how the great Washington was obedient to his 
mother in earlier days. From her he inherited many vir- 
tues and imbibed many sound precepts, and when she died, 
at Fredricksburgh, he deeply mourned her loss. 

The words of Solon were to him a motto in his retirement : 
*' Each day grow older and learn something new." Solon, 
however, did not in old age practise what he so seer-like 
preached, for of himself it was thus sung in the decline of 
his days : 

" But e'en the powers of beauty, song and wine. 
Which are most men's delights, are also mine." 

Washington may be compared in wisdom to the Pagan 
Solon, but he put in practice, not alone in youth and man- 
hood, but still more so in the decline of his days, the virtues 
of the sage, and advanced in wisdom and knowledge and 
virtue till the last. 



HOME LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 209 

The routine of his life and labours at Mount Vernon was 
severe and an increasing burden. He was, as the Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly said, a public institution. He was enter- 
taining friends, receiving visitors, granting interviews, sit- 
ting for painters and sculptors, giving his autograph to one 
and opening his purse to another and constantly reading 
and answering correspondence. His friends were numerous, 
and from near and far he was receiving letters by every 
post. Among the French officers he carried on a large 
number of correspondence. His own Generals and officers 
were ever writing him, consulting, advising and communi- 
cating from friendship or from other causes. Truly he had 
a busy time. After a little of this overwork he took to him- 
self a secretary, one Mr. Lear, a college graduate from a 
more northern State, and an efficient and devoted young 
man, who relieved him of much of the overwork. Mr. Lear 
acted as tutor to his nephew and niece, and when death 
called him away we find this secretary by his side to console 
him in his last moments, devoted to the end. 

He set about the improvement of his extensive property, 
repairing his much dilapidated mansion, renewing and re- 
building his office, house and labourers' dwellings. He 
kept a little colony of workers on his lands in houses erected 
for their use. The w^ork before him in repairing his pro- 
perty and improving his premises and plantations was one 
that kept him very much occupied in the midst of his other- 
wise busy life. He began to study husbandry anew, and 
he was daily, when leisure allowed, reading and copying 
treatises on agriculture, horticulture and kindred subjects. 
He carried on correspondence with experts in these subjects, 
and amongst his correspondents we find Jefferson, from 
France, making suggestions, forwarding him plants and seeds 
and shrubs; and Arthur Young, from England, the famous 
traveller and writer, a noted authority on cultivation, soils 
and up-to-date methods of farming, was among those who 
gave him information on his favourite study, forwarded 
o 



210 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

seeds, as well as ploughs and farming implements of the 
latest improved make, plans for laying out his farm yards 
and lawns, and in general gave him sound advice on rural 
economy. To Young we find him writing as follows: — 
** Husbandry and agriculture have ever been my favourite 
amusements, though I have never possessed much skill in 
the art, and nine years inattention to it has added nothing 
to a knowledge which is best understood from practice ; but 
with the means you have been so obliging as to furnish me 
I shall return to it, though late in life, with more alacrity 
than ever." One can see the practical mind of Washington 
leading our moderns over a hundred years ago and pointing 
out to us that with technical knowledge actual experience 
is the best school to reach success in farming. We see him 
now in real earnest setting about the work of repairing and 
remodelling and rebuilding his dilapidated out-houses and 
mansion, and we may add also building anew the family 
vault where his bones rest at Mount Vernon, in which he 
placed the ashes of his ancestors and in which he desired, 
if pleasing to them, his relatives might also rest. The lawns 
around his home were now laid out with military precision 
and neatness ; walks were judiciously mapped out, shrubs of 
every description planted, and he acted as overseer and 
director in the execution of all these well-digested and well- 
designed operations. 

Like most strong, simple natures, he was intensely fond 
of country life. He loved to roam abroad in the open, 
bracing air and survey his extensive domains, riding out on 
his favourite charger. Manly, rural exercise was his de- 
light. He was in youth trained to follow the fox hunts with 
his friends, the Tory Fairfaxes, and this fondness for the 
hounds and fox hunts he now revived, though with less 
ardour than in juvenile days. The Fairfaxes departed the 
country in the Eevolution, and though they did not take up 
arms on either side we know that all of them, except old 
Lord Fairfax, who died at the end of the war at over ninety, 



HOME LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 211 

some say with grief at the result, maintained a fondness 
for their old home and friends through the war, and later 
we find them from England corresponding with Washington. 
His friend Lafayette after his return to France sent across 
to his old General at Mount Vernon a pack of French wolf- 
hounds, and with these he occasionally chased the wild 
deer and fox over his plantations in these post-Eevolution 
years. 

It has Been observed by some biographers of his life that 
he never laughed during the war. Of course this is an 
exaggeration. We know, however, that occasionally, though 
rarely, he did give way to an occasional fit of boisterous 
laughter in his moments of relaxation. A sudden and ridi- 
culous surprise or ludicrous situation would give him the 
desired opportunity. As a rule, however, his mode of ex- 
pressing joy or pleasure or hearty greeting was by a calm, 
placid countenance softening into a benevolent smile. 

In the family circle he was urbane and kind, and in 
return was revered and adored. His servants loved him 
and looked to his eye to anticipate his every wish. He 
enjoyed pleasing society and loved to listen to anecdotes and 
stories of adventure well narrated. He was, however, pru- 
dently reticent about himself and could not be caught off his 
guard by the most artful. When pressed to recount scenes 
relating to his tragic career and glorious martial life he, with 
a suavity and tact peculiarly his own, turned the conversa- 
tion into other channels. Bishop White, who knew him 
well, says that he knew no man who was so careful and 
guarded against discoursing of himself or his acts or of any- 
thing that pertained to him. If a stranger were in his com- 
pany he would never have known from anything said by 
him that he was conscious of having distinguished himself 
in the eyes of the world. 

To the soldiers and officers of his army he remained at- 
tached till the end of his life, and it was pleasing to him to 
assist any who solicited his aid at any time. When death. 



212 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

as death did, carried off many of his beloved officers to a pre- 
mature grave after the war he mourned their loss and condoled 
with their family and friends. His favourite General, 
Nathaniel Greene, died at the age of 45 years, in the year 
1785, from the effects of sunstroke, and in deep sorrow he 
ejaculated on hearing the sad news : ' * The General was a 
great and good man." 

In his peaceful seclusion at this time we can glean from 
his correspondence how much his sentiments were becoming 
inimicable to war. To one he wrote: " I never expect to 
draw my sword again. My wish is to see the whole world 
at peace and its inhabitants one band of brothers striving 
who shall contribute most to the happiness of mankind." 
Writing to the Count De Bochambeau in the year 1786 he 
again recorded his love of peace and concord among the 
nations of the earth. " The age of conquest," says he, 
" has in great measure ceased and more peaceful times are 
in store for the nations." Little did he dream of the mighty 
convulsions that were soon to shake the earth from the 
craters of the French Revolution; little did he think that 
soon all Europe should be a military camp and millions of 
armed men should carry havoc and desolation over the Old 
"World. He did not foresee that his own nation would be 
lashed by the ebb and flow of the mighty waves of war, and 
that he, an old man, a year before his death, should be 
summoned anew from his sylvan retreat to prepare for an 
invasion from their one-time friends and faithful allies — the 
French Army. 

Washington could not be considered a learned man in the 
modern acceptation of the term. He was not deeply read 
in general history. He had only an elementary knowledge 
of political economy, nor was he profoundly versed in the 
theory of politics. His religious education was mainly re- 
ceived from his mother and tutor as a boy. He never tra- 
velled outside his own country, unless on the occasion of ia 
solitary sea voyage which he took in company with his con- 



HOME LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 213 

sumptive brother to the Indies, when Augustine was in quest 
of health. We do not know to what school of philosophy 
he was attached. He was a practical man, and all such 
knowledge, which was great, was acquired in the toilsome 
school of experience. He every day grew older and learned 
something new. His life's labour brought him into touch 
with every class and condition of men. His was an obser- 
vant mind. He was given from habit and necessity to much 
concentration and deep thought. He dealt more in cer- 
tainties and realities than in hypotheses. He had no time 
to unravel knotty and mystic sciences which required the 
leisure and isolation pecuhar to professors and philosophers. 
He neither followed Hobbes nor Eosseau, Locke nor Bacon, 
nor Helvetius, Descartes, or any of those who built up 
pyramids in their imagination and laid down axioms and 
principles which never stand the test when applied to the 
realities of life. He was a plain man, with true bedrock 
ideas about right and wrong, duties and responsibilities. He 
never failed to put his trust in the Providence of God, ruling, 
guiding and directing all things, men and nations. He 
feared God, hated iniquity and loved justice, and thus he 
moulded everything that he put his hand to in consonance 
with the Divine Law, and trusting in the power of God he 
never failed to guide his country in the sure course to order, 
happiness and prosperity. 

Anyone who peruses the public allocutions of George 
Washington, whether as General to the armies. Senate or 
Nation, or as President of the Eepublic, must be struck with 
the religious note which pervades all his utterances. He 
calls upon the Divine aid in all his trials, he invokes the 
blessing of God on all his undertakings, he appeals to Heaven 
for light and guidance and wisdom. When he entered on 
the mighty work of governing the people and binding up the 
wounds of a long war and building up a great nation prostrate 
from exhaustion, he calls upon the all-v/ise and all-powerful 
Deity to guide and direct and sustain him. To-day, in all 



214 



LIFE OP WASHINGTON. 



social, civil and military gatherings the custom has come down 
to us from our first President of beginning and ending these 
public functions with a blessing from some recognised min- 
ister of religion. The belief is generally accepted and was 
firmly held at the time that Divine Providence protected 
him through all the wars and many dangerous positions in 
which he found himself during a long military career, so 
that with the heathen poet it might be said of Washington— 

" From the din of war 
Safe he returned without one hostile scar, 
Though balls in leaden tempests rained around. 
Yet innocent they flew and guiltless of a wound." 

As religion is commonly looked upon as a private mat- 
ter, and as Washington was a man of strong convictions, 
seeing that he professed a strong belief in the Deity, one 
might naturally expect that he would externate his belief 
and convictions by some form of worship. We know he 
was a broad-minded Christian, and it was his custom and 
express wish that all Americans should serve God after their 
own fashion. To Lafayette, his old friend, a Catholic from 
a then most Catholic nation, he thus expressed himself: — 
*^I am disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity 
with that road to heaven which to them shall seem the most 
direct, pleasant and easiest and least liable to exception." 
He himself was brought up in the Episcopalian Church, and 
when at home at Mount Vernon he was a liberal subscriber, 
a vestryman in two churches seven and ten miles respec- 
tively from his own home. He was also a communicant, 
went to one of said two churches each Sunday morning. It 
was his custom to stand reverently during the service. He 
conducted no service privately at home that we are aware 
of, never went out to evening service, but spent the Sundays 
in the evenings reading or conversing with friends or sur- 
rounded by the social chat of his own family. 



HOME LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 215 

When Llaryland Catholics presented him with an address 
expressing confidence in him and veneration for his charac- 
ter, he replied that in their happy country for evermore all 
religious would be free to worship God according to the 
dictates of their own conscience and that no man's religious 
convictions and professions would be a barrier to his hold- 
ing the highest positions in the United States. Before the 
war broke out religious intolerance was by no means dead 
in the colonies. Dean Tucker as late as 1774 said that the 
feeling was general over the States that the Episcopalian 
Church, being a branch of the English Established Church 
and the one favoured and fawned on by law and the London 
garrison party in America, was the chief engine to maintain 
the British domination over them. We know that most of 
the Protestant parsons at the time of the war sided with 
the Loyalists. The Puritans, Presbyterians and some of the 
Wesleyans and all the Catholic ministers took the side of the 
Patriots. However, there was a feeling common among all 
denominations of hate or jealousy or fear of Catholics, and 
this was very much in evidence in the New England States 
where a large percentage of the North of Ireland Dissenters 
had made their home. Bishop Carroll leaves it on evidence 
in his account of a tour he made to Boston after the war 
that things were much changed from anti-Eevolution times, 
when in Boston so benighted were the fanatics, descendants 
of the Pilgrim Fathers, that rather than meet a Papist on 
the street they would cross to the other side as if he were a 
leper or unclean person. This change was mainly brought 
about by the mixing of every denomination in the war, by 
the powerful aid that came from France and Spain, and from 
the influence some wealthy Catholic patriots had; and the 
great financial help in the crisis, such as the Carrolls, the 
Lynches, Fitzsimons, Moylans, not to mention the noble 
Poles and many French aristocrats who aided the cause of 
American liberty. But above all the bitter feeling against 
Catholics was stamped out by the personal influence and 



216 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

example of the Commander-in-Chief. Merit, not religion, 
was the test to power and promotion in Washington's army, 
and merit he always applauded and revvarded no matter to 
what country or religion its possessor belonged. Whilst 
always professing his own belief he was by word and act 
conciliator^^ to all, and he had service read in camp where 
convenient on all Sundays. He himself when there was no 
other than a Presbyterian minister available at Morristown 
attended and communicated at the service. In this he was 
like our late King Edward, most obliging, and we may say 
there was a good deal of elasticity in his conscience about 
creeds and denominations. His great virtue was tact. He 
knew how the Irishmen loved their nation and their National 
Apostle, and it was his general instruction to the troops to 
have St. Patrick's Day free for rejoicing. He on one occa- 
sion gave them an address in which he eulogises the Irish 
Volunteers for bringing about the abolition of the Test Act 
(this was prior to 1782). He praised their great countryman, 
Grattan, for his defence of libert}^ and he mentions some of 
the Irish grievances which the band of patriots, with Grattan 
as leader were trying to remedy. He moreover acknow- 
ledges his indebtedness to the sons of Ireland in the war for 
American liberty and hopes that while the Hibernians are 
having their toasts and jollifications they will not be un- 
mindful of their suffering countrymen at home. As pointed 
out elsewhere in this volume, though the Irish Catholics 
were less numerous at the beginning of the war in America 
than those of other denominations from Ireland yet they 
were everywhere in the fighting line. We are told that Lord 
Moira took over from Cork almost 1,500 South of Ireland 
Catholics against their will, recruited and driven on board 
the ship that lay at Cork to transport them over to the 
American War. These soldiers in large numbers deserted 
and joined the American ranks. 



THE CONFEDERATION 217 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Confederation : Federal Convention and 
Constitution : The First President. 

Washington, from his retreat in Mount Vernon, could not 
be indifferent to the welfare of the thirteen States and the 
manner in which they worked together in the interest of the 
nation as a whole. It soon became patent to him that the 
different States were dropping into selfish grooves, that 
the patriotic spirit that moved them and united them during 
the war was being replaced by a localized patriotism. When 
peace was signed in 1783 there were State and national debts 
to be paid. The monies borrowed at the foreign courts 
remained a national charge, the debts due to Loyalists, 
whose property had been confiscated in the war, was 
clamant, and the boundary question in the North-West and 
the disbanding of the forts in English possession were still 
unsettled or neglected by the contracting parties. 

Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, was im- 
potent. They had not sufficient powers to enforce the will 
of the sanior pars of the nation; they had no power from 
their Confederacy to impose and collect taxes, to carry out 
the Treaty of Peace and keep faith and credit with foreign 
powers. 

The Confederation Congress had dwindled so much to- 
wards the beginning of 1786 that often a quorum of repre- 
sentatives was lacking. The leading men of the country 
were at home engaged in local State affairs, or like Wash- 
ington, enjoying a well-earned repose after a strenuous 
Ee volution. There seemed to be a general stagnation 
coming over the land at this time and far-seeing statesmen 
amongst them became alarmed that the fruits of their 
arduous toils in the cause of liberty would become clogged 



218 LIFE OF' WASHINGTON. 

and blurred, and their Union and national existence 
threatened for want of a strong central authority to legislate 
for the nation and protect them. It was no easy matter 
to rouse the different States to a sense of the danger. The 
fear of establishing a power outside the State and in part 
independent of it, to legislate and enforce law, was anta- 
gonistic to the extreme radical and independent spirit of 
the lately-liberated colonies. Their isolated position from 
want of communication and means of transit, as well as 
their local prejudices and jealousies and their dread of a 
power over them similar to what England enjoyed in 
colonial days, kept the States apart and made them look 
more and more to their own State and its Constitution and 
less to a central government whose existence the less think- 
ing majority could see very little necessity for. 

Washington and the leading men of the nation saw that 
if there was to be stability for their Union and permanency 
for their liberties, and if the blood and sacrifice for freedom 
was not in vain, there must be a firm and strong central 
government embracing the entire Union. Congress, acting 
under the old Confederacy in force from 1776, was unable 
to raise a dollar in taxation, although by the Articles agreed 
to, it could declare war for protection or in the interest of 
the Union. It was impotent to regulate commerce and 
tariff. In fine, it could legislate by way of recommendation, 
but had no power to compel an individual State to carry 
out its laws. 

Washington was truly pained and alarmed that his life- 
work in liberating his country might become a dead letter 
and that the good name of their beloved Eepublic might 
become a by-word for impotency among the nations. He 
feared that if things were longer allowed to drift the Con- 
federacy would for all practical purposes be dissolved and 
they should anew drop into thirteen independent, isolated, 
disunited States under their own Governor and Constitution 
without any strong central link, any power above and 



THE CONFEDERATION. 219 

over all able to unite them, protect them and safeguard 
them against foreign or domestic enemies. At this juncture 
we find Washington coming forth from his sylvan retreat, 
and buckling on the armour anew and with pen and voice 
doing a giant's part to rouse up the slumbering embers of 
patriotism and unite the nation with a view to end the 
indifference to the common weal, and so building up a strong 
Federal Government, moulding and forming a Constitution 
that would be permanent and make their nation respected 
and great and powerful amongst the powers of the w^orld. 

At this time he wrote to a friend thus : " The Confedera- 
tion appears to me to be little better than a shadow, and 
Congress a nugatory body. Is it not extraordinary that 
we should confederate as a nation and yet be afraid to give 
the rulers of the Confederacy, who are our creatures, suffi- 
cient powers to order and direct the affairs of our country? 
By such a policy we are descending from the high plane 
on which we stood among the nations." 

Again, writing to John Jay, he says: " Our affairs seem 
to lead to some crisis. I am uneasy and apprehensive now 
more than during the war. Then we had a fixed object and 
believed firmly in the justice of our cause. The case is 
now different, all is confusion and darkness. Experience 
has taught us that men will not adopt and carry into execu- 
tion measures best calculated for their own good without 
the intervention of strong executive coercive powers. I 
do not perceive how we can long exist as a nation without 
some central power over all, which will pervade the entire 
Union in as energetic a manner as the State governments 
extend over the separate States. What a triumph for our 
enemies would it not be to find that we are incapable of 
governing ourselves. Would to God wise measures may be 
taken to avert the coming calamity to our country." 

We know how he soon found himself once more launched 
into the vortex as Chairman of Convention in Conciliation 
Hall in Philadelphia, and finally as President for eight years, 



220 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

although such a public career was far from his mind and 
disagreeable to his tastes for calm and peace and social and 
rural enjoyments. In one of those patriotic letters which 
roused the nation at this time, he says, after bewailing the 
want of public spirit in the nation: " Yet having happily 
assisted in bringing the ship to port, it is not my business 
at my time of life to embark anew on the sea of troubles." 
National patriotism soon became too strong for the States 
to remain inactive and by the end of May, 1787, delegates 
from the thirteen colonies met in Convention in the capital 
of the nation to revise the old Articles of Confederation that 
did their service in their day and with efficiency during the war 
when the patriotism of the nation was powerful; but which 
in times of peace and calm after the Treaty, proved wholly 
inadequate to make them one people, free, prosperous and 
happy. The State of Virginia sent Washington as chief 
amongst their delegates to this National Convention, and 
though he had in the most public manner resolved not to 
enter public life, he could not refuse the call of his country 
in the crisis that v/as upon them. He knew what the 
sacrifice meant and he truly divine : ' ' That it would sweep 
him back into the tide of public affairs when retirement and 
ease was so much desired by him and so essentially neces- 
sary." It was not until the 25th of May that sufficient dele- 
gates were assembled to form a quorum. By the unanimous 
vote of the delegates Washington was called to the chair. 
The Convention remained in session for almost five months, 
and sat from four to seven hours daily. The best talents 
and the noblest spirits of the country were amongst the 
Constitution builders. The position of Chairman restrained 
Washington from intervening in the debates, but his 
opinions, so widely known prior to the Convention, in- 
fluenced and guided their decisions. Franklin, looking 
tov/ards the President's chair on the last dn,j of the session, 
wittingly remarked to a person next him : "I have often 
and often in the course of the session and the vicissitudes of 



THE CONFEDERATION. 221 

my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that sun behind 
the President without being able to tell whether it was 
rising or setting. At length I have the happiness to know 
it is a rising and not a setting sun." 

Washington, after the Constitution was signed and sub- 
mitted to the States for ratification, wrote thus to his friend, 
Lafayette : * * It appears to me little short of a miracle that 
the delegates from so many States, different from each other 
in manners and circumstances and prejudices, should unite 
in forming a system of national government so little liable 
to well-founded objections." Again he says in same letter : 

It will at least be a recommendation to the proposed 
Constitution that it is provided with more checks and bar- 
riers against the introduction of tyranny and those of such 
a nature less liable to be surmounted than any government 
hitherto instituted among mortals." Whilst the Constitu- 
tion was being ratified by the different States Legislatures 
over the Union, none were more active and powerful in 
expounding and explaining the advantages of the new 
Articles or proposed Constitution than the true and tried 
soldiers and statesmen of the Ee volution. 

Every circumstance and every pen and voice over the 
Union, now that the time had arrived for selecting a Chief 
Magistrate or President for the new government, pointed 
to Washington, and again we see him denying himself and 
putting himself in the hands of his countrymen to serve 
the nation and help to build up their new Constitution and 
place their Eepublic on the road to happiness and prosperity. 
The old Continental Congress now disappears to make room 
for the new Government under the Constitution. By the 
unanimous vote of the electors of the Union Washington was 
elected as President. J. Adams received the greatest num- 
ber of votes for Vice-President for a term of four years. 
The names of President and Vice-President at first were 
voted for together ; later they were voted for separately. 



222 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

New York was selected as the place where the new Gov- 
ernment should assemble. The old City Hall was repaired 
and fitted up as a Federal Hall, and March 4th, 1789, was 
appointed as the day on which the inauguration ceremony 
should take place. It was 21st April before the Vice- 
President was sworn in and took the chair as President of 
the Senate. He reached New York after receiving congra- 
tulations en route and amid much pomp and official display. 

Washington, after his notification at Mount Vernon of the 
high honour conferred on him by his countrymen, set out 
for the seat of government accompanied by soldiers from 
the chief cities. Everywhere along the route crowds of girls 
and women, dressed in white, carrying wreaths, lined the 
way; triumphal arches, addresses, odes, and every public 
manifestation of honour and joyous greeting met him along 
the entire journey. On the 30th April he was formally in- 
stalled. In the address delivered in the Senate Chamber on 
this occasion, in presence of both Houses of Congress, he 
said : — 

" The circumstances under which I now meet you will 
acquit me from entering into that subject further than to 
refer you to the great constitutional charter under which we 
are assembled and which in defining your powers designates 
the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will 
be more consistent with those circumstances and far more 
congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute 
in place of a recommendation of particular measures the 
tribute that is due to the rectitude, the talents, and the 
patriotism that adorn the characters selected to advise and 
adopt them. In these honourable qualifications I behold 
the surest pledges, that as on one side no local prejudices 
or party animosities will misdirect the comprehensive and 
equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage 
of communities and interests, so on another that the foun- 
dations of our national policy will be laid in pure and immut- 
able principles of private morality, and the pre-eminence of 



THE CONFEDERATION. 223 

a free Government be exemplified by all the attributes which 
can win the affections of its citizens and command the 
respect of the world. 

** I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which 
an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no 
truth more thoroughly established than that there exists 
in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union 
between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, 
between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous 
policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity ; 
since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious 
smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that 
disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven 
itself has ordained ; and since the preservation of the sacred 
fire of liberty and the destiny of the Eepublican form of 
Government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as 
finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of 
the American people." He then alluded to the power left 
to Congress by the fifth article of the Constitution, whereby 
by two-thirds of the votes of Congress amendments or addi- 
tions may be made to the Constitution. In this matter he 
trusts to their wisdom and discernment. He renounces all 
claims for compensation during his term in office except for 
actual expenses for the public good, and finally adds: ** I 
will now for the present take my leave of you by invoking 
the benign Parent of the human race in humble supplication 
that since He has been pleased to favour the American 
people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tran- 
quillity and dispositions for deciding with unanimity on a 
form of government for the security of the Union and the ad- 
vancement of their happiness, so His Divine blessing may 
be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate 
consultations and the wise measures on which the success 
of the Government must depend.*' 

Congress after this admirable address proceeded to St. 
Paul's Church for thanksgiving. The Bishop of New York 



224 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

was nominted one of the chaplains to Congress, and on this 
occasion read prayers suitable to so solemn an inauguration. 
Thus ended the inauguration ceremony of the new American 
Government, under the wise and fatherly conduct of Wash- 
ington. Thus Vv^as ushered forth on its new course the 
United Republic which was destined to become the greatest 
and most prosperous nation on earth. 

Now that Washington had met Congress and had in per- 
son delivered his inaugural address, which was duly 
answered by the Senate and House of Representatives, it 
will be opportune to notice the practical way the Govern- 
ment set about to render their operations effective. 
According to the written Constitution there should be three 
branches of the Government — 

1st. The executive department, consisting of President 
and assistants or cabinet. At first the House of Represen- 
tatives only advised the President to call to his aid three 
secretaries, viz., the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secre- 
tary of Foreign Affairs, and the Secretary of War and the 
Navy, to which was added the Postmaster-General. 

2nd. The legislative branch, which consisted of the two 
houses of Congress which had been duly elected by the voice 
of the States. 

3rd. The judicial department, which consisted of a 
supreme circuit and district courts over which presided a 
Chief Justice and five Associate Judges. To these were 
soon added an Attorney-General. 

It became the duty of the President to fill up the posi- 
tions defined by the Legislature and to the positions of 
advisers he appointed Alexander Hamilton Secretary to the 
Treasury, by far the most important position in the Cabinet, 
considering the critical position of the finance of the nation. 
His choice was judicious, for of all the clever men called to 
govern and help in building up the Constitution, Hamilton, 
by the verdict of history, stands in the first rank. He 
called to the position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs and 



THE CONFEDERATION. 225 

Home Secretary Thomas Jefferson, then x^mbassador at 
Paris, and although Jefferson was an extreme " Galloman " 
and in many things antagonistic to the President, we can 
see the wisdom and foresight of Washington well illustrated 
by calling to his side one who was so well versed in foreign 
and European affairs, one who would in his representative 
capacity allay suspicions of the fairmindedness of the ap- 
pointments among the State sovereignty section oi the 
nation. 

To the position of Secretary of War General Knox of 
Revolution fame was appointed. Knox was a brave soldier 
and a loyal friend of the President. The work of Secretary 
of War for the time being was little more than nominal, as 
the standing army at this time would be less than the num- 
ber of police we have on duty in our large cities. However, 
Congress, by articles contained in the Constitution, had 
sufficient power to suppress rebellion, repel invasion and 
preserve order. The Constitution declares it has " power 
to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, make 
rules concerning captures by land and sea, raise and sup- 
port armies, provide for and maintain a fleet, make regula- 
tions for land and sea forces, provide for calling forth the 
militia, to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insur- 
rections and repel invasions, to provide for organising, 
arming and disciplining the militia." 

You have in above the nucleus of a strong central 
government, and time has proved the strength of the v/ar 
department. 

Washington added to the above Samuel Osgood as Post- 
master-General. He nominated for the federal judiciary 
John Jay as Chief Justice. Jay was a man of many parts. 
As a diplomat he was in the first rank, as a statesman he 
was capable of occupying any position under the Executive, 
but his great talent and retiring manner, as well as his 
personal leanings, marked him out for the function of head 
of the judiciary department. Under him were placed as cir- 
p 



^26 LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 

cuit judges John Buttledge, William Gushing, James 
Wilson, and Eobert H. Harrison, men who deserved well of 
their country. This department or branch of government 
was to act as a general Court of Appeal and had exclusive 
jurisdiction over all controversies of a civil nature, wherein a 
State became a party, except in suits by a single State 
against one or more of its citizens. It had exclusive rights 
m all suits against ambassadors, or public ministers, or offi- 
cials. This Supreme Court was to sit at certain times of 
the year at the seat of government, as might be determined 
by Congress. Federal Courts were also established in each 
State subject to the Supreme Court. 

Washington was a practical President and stood above 
party influence. The secretaries were his servants. They 
had charge under the President of Departments of State. 
In after years they came to be recognised as the Cabinet, 
and as the work of government became more ponderous they 
were increased and are still increasing in most well-regulated 
nations. Fifty years after Washington's time we find eight 
members in the Cabinet. In the first stages of government 
under the Constitution the President from time to time con- 
sulted his ministers and learned of them the real position 
of affairs in each department. At first it was a custom with 
Congress to call into their assembly one of the Secretaries 
when information was requii'ed about his department, but 
they had no locus standi in the Legislature. The Secretary 
to the Treasury, for example, might supply Congress with 
facts and estimates and foreshadow the requirements of the 
nation, but the Government Budget ^vas not his work but 
that of the House of Representatives, The Cabinet had no 
authorization from the Constitution and the^^ were solely 
responsible for their official acts to the President who ap- 
pointed them and could alone dismiss them. Congress 
could not remove any official in or outside the Cabinet. The 
constitution is so framed in regard to the different branches 
of the Legislature that no one branch is supreme or en- 



THE CONFEDERATION, 227 

tirely independent. The Executive and the Congress are 
responsible to the Judiciary, which in turn is responsible to 
the people, the final court of appeal. 

The duties devolving on the President were numerous, 
and when we consider how conscientious, how punctilious, 
and how obliging Washington always was, the duties of his 
position must have been onerous in the extreme. He was 
the servant of the nation. Every Tuesday evening, from 
three to four o'clock, he gave a public reception. Strangers 
were introduced by the secretary. Dr. Sullivan gives us a 
picture of Washington at home in his official residence at 
New York at this time which is most interesting : — 

*' He received visitors in the old-fashioned dining-room, 
Mhich was about thirty feet in length. All the seats were 
removed from this unregal apartment, and before the fire- 
place facing the door, so as to see each visitor as he entered, 
stood the President, clad in black velvet, his hair in full 
dress, powdered, and gathered behind in a large silk bag; 
yellow gloves on hjs hands, holding a cocked hat, with a 
cockade in it, and the edges adorned with a black feather 
about an inch deep. He wore knee and shoe buckles, and 
a long sword, with a finely-v/rought and polished steel hilt, 
which appeared at the left hip, the coat worn over the sword, 
so that the belt and the part below the fold of the coat 
behind were in view. The scabbard was white polished 
leather. Each visitor was introduced to him by name unless 
he knew them previously. He received each one with a 
dignified bow, so as to politely indicate that hand-shaking 
was not part of the ceremony." 

To-day the President allows the handshaking ceremony 
to every stranger, so that often on public occasions many 
thousands daily shake hands with the President. Roosevelt 
grasped with a grip of iron the hands of all that approached 
him. As visitors came in they formed a circle round the 
room. At a quarter past three the ceremony of rec-eption 
commenced and the door was closed for further entrance* 



228 LIFE OF WASHINGTOK. 

that day. He began from the right end of the drcle, bpoke 
a few friendly words and passed along. When he had com- 
pleted the circuit he resumed his former position at the end 
of the room. Each visitor approached him in succession, 
bowed and retired. The writer remembers his reception by 
Boosevelt, at which there was less formality. Each visitor 
took up whatever position in the Blue Room he wished. 
Some sat, others stood. The President came in most un- 
ceremoniously and passed among the visitors, spoke to each 
individual and shook the hand of each. When your inter- 
view was over you immediatel}^ departed without more ado. 

Mrs. Washington had a reception every Friday evening, 
at which the President was always present. He did not 
consider himself visited on these occasions. He ^v'ore 
ordinary plain dress ; he had neither belt nor sword. It was 
his custom on these evenings to move about and converse 
among the visitors. The young ladies loved to draw the 
President into conversation and often they flattered them- 
selves that they weve favourites, but they were incapable 
by their witcheries to cause him to soften his countenance 
or change his habitual gravity. 

On Sunday the President and his family ceased from 
their ordinary round of duties. In the morning he went to 
ohm'ch service and in the evening there were devotions in his 
o\Mi private room. Once in each fortnight he gave an official 
dinner. Foreign ministers, officers of Government, and 
other distinguished strangers were welcomed to the Presi- 
dent's table. On these occasions there was neither ostenta- 
tion nor restraint. Simplicity in the host and ease on the 
part of the guests were the order of the day. 

Although the order and ceremony habitual to Washing- 
ton were natural considering how much a little ostentation 
adds to the dignity of office and the respect due to authority, 
there were, however, critics, such as the extreme Demo- 
crats — \^hose leader was Thomas Jefferson— who considered 
that both Washington and Adams were copying too much 



[A 




f 



a 



THE CONFEDERATION. 229 

regal patterns and court display as practised at St. James's 
and Westminster. Hence arose another source of complaint 
against the Federalists, who included the larger part of the 
wealthy and commercial men of the Union, especially in the 
chief cities. These men approved of Washington's great 
dignity in office. Washington had been brought up in such 
suri'oundings by contact with the Governor's court in Vir- 
ginia ; hence we find him entering the Federal Hall of New 
York drawn in a coach with six horses, and on ordinary 
occasions he used four horses in his carriage. When walk- 
ing the street he was followed by a man in livery. In addi- 
tion he allowed his birthday to be feted as do our sovereigns. 
The anti-Federalists complained of all this pomp; they 
wanted their President to be a plain man. Hence we find 
Jefferson, the third President, riding to the seat of Govern- 
ment on the day of his inauguration on a horse in plain 
dress. He tied the horse to a tree and walked in to take the 
oath. Here we have the opposite extreme. 

There was much constructive legislation to be performed 
by Congress before the Government could settle down to the 
general work of the Federal Union. The officials necessary 
for government had to be nominated and created, their 
salaries fixed and their duties defined. There was no money 
to pay salaries of Congressmen and Executive and Judiciary ; 
Ambassadors at many foreign courts had to be financed. A 
system then had to be constructed by which revenue might 
be raised for the urgent needs of Government and ways and 
means had to be devised for imposing taxation and collecting 
revenue for the expenses of Government. In all this pre- 
liminary work devolving on the Legislature the President 
was merely an interested spectator. It was his to execute 
with precision and efficiency when the Legislature had for- 
mulated the laws and regulations and obtained the seal of 
the President. It is not necessary to specify in minute 
detail all the work performed by Congress during the first 
term of Washington in the chair. We will, however, give 



230 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the leading features of the work of government in these four 
years. Most important work it was. It was the work that 
gave stability to the Union, work that helped to heal the 
wounds of the nation, as yet bleeding from the ravages of 
war. It was work, too, which cemented the States by 
adding twelve new articles to the Constitution, articles 
which might be considered a digest from two hundred and 
one objections made by the States individually prior to rati- 
fying the Constitution in their Legislatures on the condition 
that according to article five of the Constitution their 
objections might be discussed anew in Congress and incor- 
porated in the Federal chart when voted for by three-fourths 
of the Congress. These amendments were adopted in 1791, 
and can be seen in the amended Constitution articles. They 
include a Bill of Eights, among other things, viz., the right 
of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers 
and effects, trial by jury, freedom of speech and Press, the 
right of public meeting and petition to Government for 
redress of grievances. 

The revenue question was of first importance, hence a 
National Bank was voted to be opened imder State control. 
There was much opposition to this measure, but it was 
carried in Congress after a good deal of criticism. It was 
considered a good constructive policy. It brought under the 
influence of the central power the men of wealth in the 
nation ; it gave security to the Federation that capital could 
be procurable on emergency. By issuing shares for the 
Bank over the Union men of means and divergent interests 
were brought into touch with each other and with the 
G-overnment. At this time the sale of Western lands was 
rapid, prosperity and immigration caused expansion, and in 
one year over five million dollars were gathered into the 
Exchequer from sale of virgin tracts of unreclaimed lands. 
Congress had power to establish new States as soon as they 
were of sufficient importance to form State Legislatures 
acceptable to the Federal Government and promised alle- 



THE CONFEDERATION. 231 

glance to tlie Union. Hence Venuont, formerly a dir^trict 
belonging to New York State, was federated in 1791, and 
Kentucky, originally clainaed and ceded up by Virginia, was 
made an independent State of the Union in 1792. 

Early in the Presidency of Washington a resolution was 
brought before Congress to fix a site for a permanent resi- 
dence for the general Government of the United States at 
some place convenient and near the centre of wealth and 
population. This subject of a Congress House occupied a 
good amount of time in discussing and gave rise to much 
party and personal bitterness. The Northern and Southern 
States could not agree nor could either see eye to eye with 
the middle States. The site of government was more im- 
portant then than it would be to-day, when railways and 
steamships and telephone and telegraphs make a thou- 
sand miles apart as convenient as a hundred was in Wash- 
ington's time. This matter was eventually settled by w^ay 
of a compromise after the return of Jefferson to assume his 
work in the Cabinet. Washington besought the Secretary, 
Jefferson, to effect a compromise between the Opposition 
and Hamilton, who was endeavouring to pass a constructive 
Bill in Congress w^hereby the Federal Government might 
assume the debts of the individual States as well as the 
Federal debt contracted during the war and accumulating 
from unpaid interest under the Confederation. The site of 
Congi-ess was finally selected on the banks of the Potomac 
river in territory ceded to the Federal Government by Mary- 
land and Virginia. The present Government buildings 
and the beautiful Federal city • commenced to rise during 
this first term of Washington. 

The most serious constructive work of the Government 
was how best to place the financial status of the Federal 
Government on a solid basis. Until foreign nations could 
satisfy themselves that the new Republic could carry out 
the Treaty of 1783, whereby the Union was pledged to 
repay France and Holland and Spain the loans obtained, 



232 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

during the Be volution, amounting at this time to near twelve 
million dollars, little confidence would be placed in the new 
Government. There were domestic debts due to individ- 
ual creditors in the United States for loans to Government; 
then there were debts or compensation due to Tories and 
others who were neutrals during the v/ar. The domestic 
debts have roughly been computed at forty-two million 
dollars. The State debts contracted by the separate 
States, for works of defence, for provisions and bounties, 
and pay to the troops raised during the war and other con- 
tributions taxed on them during the war, amounted to 24 
million dollars, half of which was made up of accumulated 
interest. Hamilton conceived a plan to build up the credit 
of the nation and to indemnify foreign and home creditors. 
He met his chief opposition on that part of the scheme which 
advocated the assumption of the State debts by the Govern- 
ment. His plan was to build up the internal credit of the 
nation and make the central authority responsible. This 
scheme was conceived by Hamilton with wonderful fore- 
sight and clear understanding in money matters. He held 
that the only way to gain credit to the nation was by paying 
honest debts. His ambition was to make the central power 
in the union stronger and stronger, to give the Federal 
authority more and more taxing power and by so doing 
clipping the wings of the States. The anti-Federalists 
strongly opposed him in the assumption of the State debts, 
but as Washington and Adams were with Hamilton in his 
plan of finance, through the influence of Jefferson, the Secre- 
tary to the Treasury's policy was legalised by Congress and 
became law. It proved the salvation of the credit of the 
Union and was the means of obliterating the nation's debt 
in a very short time. The protective impost on exports 
and imports, the tax on tonnage of vessels, the new Bank, 
with a capital of 10 million dollars, part owned by Govern- 
ment and part subscribed for by 20,000 shareholders, estab- 
lished the credit of the nation beyond all danger. 

Washington when opening CJongress on 25th October^ 



THE CONFEDERATION. 238 

1791, was able to compliment the nation and Congress on 
the prosperity of the whole country and tlie success of the 
measures of the administration. In reference to the fron- 
tier wars with the Eed Men, which unhappily were con- 
stantly being waged across the Ohio, he advocated a system 
of treatment towards the aborigines corresponding with the 
mild principles of religion and philanthropy towards an 
enlightened race of men whose happiness depends on the 
conduct of the United States. Such a pohcy he considered 
sound as well as just. 

About this time, 1792, the census of the Union was 
taken and the population was computed at 3,929,827 souls. 

Washington throughout his term of office acted as a regu- 
lating force. He was the symbol of calmness and prudence. 
He steered the ship of state with even keel and with a firm 
hand. In his Cabinet he had faction among the four mem- 
bers; in fact, the party leaders were of his own household. 
Hamilton was Conservative in his turn of mind. He loved 
English institutions; he was inclined for unification over 
the Union and supremacy in the central Government. He 
was a strong Federalist and anti-Democrat. He had his 
antithesis in Jefferson, and in Jefferson's case there was a 
tinge of jealous rivalry and personal hate engendered by 
Hamilton's success and from the confidence Washington 
reposed in him. Jefferson was the father of the Democratic 
party, a "Galloraan" by predilection and an anti-Federalist, 
not because he was against the Constitution, but because 
he advocated a strict and limited power to Federal Govern- 
ment. He was a State sovereignty man. 

Washington was the only man who could hold together 
spirits so divergent and maintain their obedience and con- 
fidence and the confidence of the nation. 

During the first term of office the President made a 
circuit of the State when Congress was on vacation, and 
everywhere he passed he was received by acclamation from 
the people, and from none more than the old veterans of the 
Revolution who fought under him and adored him. 



*^34 LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Washington's Second Term as President (1793 to 1797). 

It was Washington's personal wish that he should not be 
asked to serve a second term as Chief Magistrate. He 
desired to allay the suspicions of those who feared the life- 
long succession of the President. These men were led by 
Jefferson. But Jefferson, although an extreme Democrat, 
was a loyal lover of his country. He believed that no other 
than Washington could at that juncture keep the nation 
united, keep it from disruption and anarchy, Hamilton and 
Knox joined with the Foreign Secretary in their earnest 
appeal that Washington should consent to a second term as 
the executive head of State. Washington consented, with 
the sole desire before him " to promote and secure attach- 
ment to their Constitution over the Union and for securing 
this end to carefully cultivate harmony and stability in the 
public Councils." 

The second Presidential election took place on December 
the 5th, 1792, and George Washington was unanimously 
re-appointed to the Chief Magistracy of the Union. The 
Vice-President, John Adams, was favoured with a majority 
of votes for President of the Senate, but he was met over 
the Union at the polls by great opposition. The Federalists 
and anti-Federalists fought over the Vice-President's elec- 
tion on party lines. They opposed the policy of Knox at the 
War Office and drew up resolutions condemning Hamilton's 
policy of pursuing the assumption of State debts. This 
conduct of the Opposition led to the resignation of both 
Cabinet Ministers early in the second term of Washington's 
administration. 

The inauguration of the President for his second term 
of office was less formal and demonstrative than in '89. 
Washington presented himself on the 4th March in the 



Washington's second term as president. 235 

Senate Chamber, in which were the heads of Departments 
of State, the Corps Diplomatique, the President and mem- 
bers of Senate and many members of Congress. Judge 
Cushing administered the oath to him in the usual way. In 
a brief, formal speech the President acknowledged the high 
honour conferred upon him by the nation. No further cere- 
mony was indulged in on the occasion. 

These four years that the new Government was then 
entering upon were stormy years in the world's history. 
They were critical years for the Union and years that only 
the prudence and foresight of a Washington could have 
passed through without laying prostrate the young Republic 
of America just lifting up her head among the nations. 

France was in the whirligig of the Revolution . The Pteign 
of Terror had overthrown the monarchy in France and Louis 
XVI. was beheaded, His Most Christian Majesty, a friend 
to American liberty as true as he was a hater of their 
British rival. America and France were allies in war and 
they were friends after the treaty of peace. France looked 
to the United States for support and for a continued alliance, 
even though the Sovereign had been dethroned and rebellion 
against lawful authority held sway. Nay, the French people 
lighted the lamp of liberty at the flames of the American 
Revolution. Americans were proud that they acted as a 
beacon light to set aglow the latent and pent-up material in 
France, taking for a motto, " Civil and religious liberty and 
fraternity and brotherhood." But sane Federal America 
was not so enthusiastic in their cause as to imagine that 
Robespierre and Marat were suitable agents to work a 
nation's regeneration. They could not shut their eyes to 
the enormities and excesses almost too incredible for the 
sober pen of history to record. The American people 

respected the Divine law and believed in a Deity. In their 
Constitution all religions were respected ; ministers of every 
creed were given a home and liberty on their free shore. 
The reasoning part of this heroic Republic could not endorse 



2S6 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the policy of France, although there were many " Gallo- 
men" who sympathised with the eftorts of the revolutionists 
to establish government and liberty of a kind out of the 
chaos of the destructionists' policy. Some, like Jefferson, 
lovers of France from association and hate for England, 
hoped for better things in time for France and overlooked 
the excesses of their young men who were the dictators in 
1793 in France. The Federalists in America had no hopes 
that any good could arise out of such a bloody career as 
the French Revolution had entered upon, and they would 
have nothing to do with the Sans Culottes. The time was 
now at hand when Americans must decide their policy as 
regards continental affairs, as France and England had 
declared war against each other in 1793. Washington did 
not delay long in defining the course the United States 
would follow. Accordingly, on April 22nd, 1793, he issued 
a proclamation after a consultation with his secretaries for- 
bidding the citizens of the American States to take part in 
any hostilities on the seas and warning them against carry- 
ing to the belligerents any articles deemed contraband 
according to the modern usages of war. He forbade all 
acts and proceedings inconsistent with the duties of a 
friendly nation towards both parties at war. This procla- 
m.ation caused much ill-feeling towards the United States 
among the revolutionists. They expected aid and practical 
support from America in their struggle with their common 
enemy, England. They argued that the alliance entered 
into in 1778, when France joined hands and made common 
cause with the States, to mutually and continuously fight 
shoulder to shoulder until war should cease and the colonies 
be free. America contended that this compact ceased when 
the Treaty of Peace was signed in 1783. France held that 
it was still in force. Neutrality with foreign Powers in 
their wars, alliance for commercial purposes, was the policy 
of Washington; it is to-day the policy of the American 
nation. This policy gave Washington much trouble during 



Washington's second term as president, 237 

the coming years both from the " Gallomen " in the States 
and from the emissaries of the revolutionists and their agent 
in America, Citizen Genet, who at this time came over as 
Foreign Ambassador to America to ehcit sympathy and aid 
for the Convention. The opinion of the American Govern- 
ment, a most Christian opinion, is well expressed by 
Alexander Hamilton. " It cannot be without danger and in- 
convenience," he says, " to our interests to impress on the 
nations of Europe an idea that we are accredited by the 
same spirit which has for some time past fatally misguided 
the measures of those who conduct the affairs of France and 
sullied a cause once glorious and that might have been 
triumphant. The cause of France is compared with that 
of America during its late revolution. Would to heaven 
that the comparison were just. Would that we could dis- 
cern in the mirror of French affairs the same decorum, the 
same gravity, the same order, the same dignity, the same 
solemnity which distinguished the cause of the American 
B evolution. Clouds and darkness would not then rest on 
the issue as they now do. I own I do not hke the compari- 
son when I contemplate the horrid and systematic massacre 
of the 2nd and 3rd of September, when I observe that a Marat 
and a Robespierre, the notorious prompters of these bloody 
scenes, sit triumphantly in the Convention and take a con- 
spicuous part in its measures, that an attempt to bring the 
assassins to justice has been obliged to be abandoned. 
When I see an unfortunate prince whose reign was a con- 
tinued demonstration of the goodness and benevolence of 
his heart, of his attachment to the people of whom he was 
monarch (who, though educated in the lap of despotism, 
gave proofs that he was not an enemy of libei*ty), brought 
precipitately and ignominiously to the block without any 
substantial proof of guilt, without even an authentic exhibi- 
tion of motives in decent regard to the opinions of man- 
kind — when I find the doctrines of Atheism openly advanced 
in the Convention and heard with loud applause; when I 



238 LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 

see the sword of fanaticism extended to force a political 
creed upon citizens, who were invited to submit to the arms 
of France as the harbingers of liberty; when I behold the 
hand of rapacity outstretched to frustrate and ravish the 
monuments of religious worship, erected by those citizens 
and their ancestors; when I perceive passive tumult and 
violence usurping those seats where reason and civil delibe- 
ration ought to preside, I acknowledge that I am glad to 
believe there is no real resemblance between what was the 
cause of America and what is the cause of France, that 
the difference is no less great than that between liberty and 
licentiousness. I regret whatever has a tendency to con- 
found them, and I feel anxious as an American that the 
ebullitions of inconsiderate men among us may not tend 
to involve our reputation in the issue." 

There were two important events at this time in connec- 
tion with foreign and diplomatic affairs that rendered the 
American situation critical in the extreme notwithstanding 
the attitude of neutrality taken up by Washington, viz., the 
despatch of John Jay to London to arrange matters of dis- 
pute betv\'een England and America and to make some terms 
agreeable to both nations regarding commerce. We will 
consider Jay's mission first and its effects on the mission 
and cause Citizen Genet was advocating. Jay's treaty, as 
it was called, was signed on November lOtli, 1794, and 
ratified in Congress by the Senate, all but the 12th article, 
which related to the direct trade with the British West 
Indies, on June 17th, 1795. This treaty, although not a very 
good bargain for America, was the best that could be 
effected at the time, and it was such as England prior to 
1789 would never have signed. Hence it showed how the 
Federal Government had raised the status of the United 
States among the Powers. Without this treaty, war and 
piracy between England and America would have been 
interminable. America wanted peace with the " lion of the 
seas " even at a sacrifice of minor points. Private claims 



Washington's second term as president. 289 

unsettled on both sides since 1783 were re-opened and ad- 
justed by a commission. The Western forts which were to 
be in possession of America, viz., posts with garrisons on 
Lakes Michigan, Erie, Oswego and Niagara, and the St. 
Lawrence were up to this held fortified by the British. 
By Jay's treaty they were given up to the United States. 
The old Confederacy failed from want of power to fulfil its 
monetary part of the Treaty of Peace as regards Loyalists' 
property confiscated. This treaty opened up freedom to 
America to trade with the Indians and adjusted finally the 
boundaries along the upper parts of the Mississippi between 
United States and Canada. 

The ratification of the Treaty aroused bitter wrangling in 
both Houses of Congress, and as the Treaty dealt with 
monetary matters of Federal interest a dispute similar to 
one which occupied the Commons and country some year past 
arose about the respective rights of each House of Congress 
in fiscal matters. The Representatives contended that the 
Senate could not refuse its assent to the Treaty on financial 
grounds since questions of appropriating money were part 
of the functions of the Lower House. The question of 
acceptance of the Treaty was debated by Congress for two 
months, and all that time arguments, eloquent and of deep 
interest, were used in the Assembly, viz., was the Senate 
bound to accept a Treaty when ratified by their Foreign 
Minist-er? This Treaty was negotiated by Jay with instruc- 
tions received from the President alone. He did not, as is 
the custom, consult the Senate owing to the difficulty that 
existed for expedition. 

At this time another historic pioneer territory was raised 
to the dignity of a State and admitted to the Union, Ten- 
nessee, formerly part of tlie ^^'estern lands of KortJi 
Carolina. 

We need not labour the question to show how this Treaty 
of 1794 raised up all the party hate that was in the States 
against England, nor dwell on the fact tliat the authors and 



240 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

abettors of the Treaty were publicly hooted. Even Wash- 
ington, who defended his minister and approved of the 
Treaty, met with much criticism from the Press and on 
platforms. The Genet party was getting strong and the 
agents of the Directory were everywhere to be met over the 
States. Many of the papers and magazines were edited by 
Frenchmen, and the " Gallomen " were loud in their denun- 
ciation of the commercial alliance with England. 

It will be interesting to know what Washington thought 
of this Treaty which caused him so much vexation and 
opposition. He says: "It was not altogether what he 
wished nor what he hoped for, but he was convinced that 
more favourable terms could not then be obtained, and they 
had no alternative." Time has justified the wisdom of 
Washington and proved how effective for peace and pros- 
perity the Treaty proved. It more than fulfilled the expec- 
tations of its friends; it saved the country from war, and 
improved commerce. W^ashington at this time, writing to 
Governor Morris, then in London, said that " by a firm 
adhesion to principles and to the neutral policy which has 
been adopted towards European wars, I have brought on 
myself a torrent of abuse in the factious papers of this 
country, and the enmity of the discontented of all 
descriptions. But having no sinister motive in view, I shall 
not be diverted from my course by these agencies. I have 
nothing to fear in the discharge of my duty from invective. 
The acts of my administration will appear when I am no 
more, and the candid part of mankind will not condemn me 
without referring to those records." 

As the policy adopted by Washington towards England 
had much to do with forming the Gallomanic coalition 
against the President, wo will subjoin an extract from a 
letter of his to Mi\ IMonroe, who was appointed Ambassador 
to the French Court. IMonroe was a firm believer in the 
French cause, hence the wisdom of his appointment at a 
time when America \A'as suspected by the Directory of 



Washington's second term as president. 241 

France. " T always wished well to the French Revolution, 
and it has always been my decided opinion that no nation 
had a right to intermeddle in the internal affairs of another, 
that everyone had a right to form and live under the Govern- 
ment they liked best. When we as a nation can consistently 
with honour preserve neutrality it is oui* duty, our interest 
and our policy, situated as we are, and already deeply in 
debt and in a convalescent state. These are our sentiments 
and policy towards France and we are uninfluenced in any 
way by our treaty or other considerations by England." 

Monroe was graciously received in Paris by the represen- 
tatives of the Revolution and in a most gracious manner he 
recognised the young Republic. By some, especially those 
of strong neutral leaning at home, the Ambassador was 
thought to have exceeded the bounds of prudence in his 
relations with the successors of Marat and Terrorists. 

Citizen Genet when he arrived in America as the accre- 
dited Ambassador of the French Republic, then at war with 
England, took the opportunity of the enthusiasm of the 
Americans on receiving him to elicit their aid and co- 
operation in the interests of his country ; hence he fitted out 
frigates and manned them with American seamen to cap- 
ture British merchant vessels trading along the American 
and West Indian shore. He organised a band of soldiers 
among the brave Kentuckian settlers, and found willing re- 
cruits in those hardy pioneers. Washington through his 
secretary forbade Genet to exceed the limits of his jurisdic- 
tion and ordered him to cease his acts, which violated the 
proclamation of neutrality. Genet defied the President and 
openly stirred up sedition against the Government, and at 
once Washington ordered him to depart their shores and 
wrote to the French for his formal withdrawal. Genet 
disappeared from this time from the diplomatic service. He 
did not leave Anaerica. He married a Miss Clinton, daugh- 
ter of Governor Clinton, of New York, and ended his days 
in the States. He was a brilliant and brave, but impetuous, 
Q 



242 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Frenchman, who at many foreign courts in the reign of 
Louis did good diplomatic service for his king and countrj^ 
He was an ardent Republican. 

The neutral policy adopted by Washing-ton saved the 
States from the ravages of European wars, but it was a 
policy that gave the Federal Government much trouble to 
carry out. France was in need of money and provisions, 
and the Directory had two eyes — an official and an unofficial 
one. With the official eye she kept up the semblance of 
honest dealing with foreign Powers, but when their seamen 
were capturing and plundering the merchant vessels of 
America, the hungry Directory winked at their depredations. 
It is said that as many as a thousand American ships were 
robbed or sunk by French pirate vessels in the Revolution 
crisis. America to defend herself equipped a fleet and re- 
taliated, and soon ended the invasion of their coasts by 
French raiders. To show the insolence of the French 
towards America, it may be here incidentally mentioned that 
early in the reign of Adams, or just when Washington 
retired, the Directory demanded immediate payment of all 
outstanding debts and a loan as well as a gift of money 
from America. The reply was : *' Millions for defence ; not 
one farthing for tribute." Washington in his retirement 
was called upon to assume command of the army of the 
States in preparation for expected war with France. He 
answered the call of his countrymen and prepared for the 
invasion. But at this time Napoleon became the real head 
of France, a better understanding was arrived at between 
the two Republics, and Washington's services were not 
required. 

We need not further dwell on the home policy and 
legislation of Washington's administration than to refer to 
his humane treatment of the Indians. He had been forced 
during his term of office to defend by arms the settlers on 
the borders. The Redman had grievances against the 
settlers, real grievances. The uncivilised aborigines were 



Washington's second term as president. 243 

treated with imkindness and cruelty by the frontier men, 
and as the nation expanded the Indians were driven back 
and butchered and robbed. Washington had to maintain 
order as liead of the Executive, and when he had brought 
peace to the frontiers he enacted laws between traders and 
Indiana — laws for just dealing, laws for piuiishing white man 
and red man with equal severity for violating the Federal 
laws. Traders were ordered to take out licences for dealing 
with the Indians, and all lands that Indians ceded to the 
settlers were to be paid for. 

Well and wisely did Washington preside for eight years 
over the destinies of his native land as he bravely and fear- 
lessly for eight years led them in battle to victory. As a 
statesman and nation-builder he will live in history, and 
his words and acts and example have been followed and 
copied and imitated down the generations by his successors. 
He is truly immortal in the eyes of all patriotic Americans, 
and his good works and example have lived after him until 
the present day. 

In the farewell address to the nation, 2>ublished at the 
end of his second term as President, in the beginning of 
1797, we summarise the following nine paragraphs as prin- 
ciples set forth in a document of almost twenty pages — a 
kind of valedictory address from the father of his country to 
his children of the United States — and Vvdiich principles he 
strongly urges his children to preserve and cherish as the 
bedrock maxims of the perpetuity of the Eepublic. He 
begins this address by telling them that he would never 
have set a precedent for a second t^rm of office in his person 
had not foreign affairs been perplexing and in a critical con 
dition owing to French revolution and European wars, and 
because the voice of his Cabinet and of the nation demanded 
of him such a sacrifice, and in conclusion he publicly avows 
that neither ambition nor interest impelled him in his 
public actions in a life forty-five years of which were dedi- 
cated to the service of his country. 



244 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

1. Unity of governnient is the main pillar in the edifice 
of your independence. It is the Palladium of your political 
safety and prosperity. 

2. Avoid overgrown military establishments, which are so 
particularly inauspicious to Republican liberty (French 
Revolution). 

3. Respect the authority of the Constitution; comply with 
its laws; acquiesce in its measures. These are fundamental 
maxims of true liberty. 

4. The mischievous spirit of Party and innovation and 
change should be discouraged by a wise people as tending 
to distract public counsel and enfeeble public administration 
and create a species of tyranny in opposition to the true 
spirit of liberty. 

5. Religion and morality are indispensable supports to 
public prosperity and are the firmest pillars of human hap- 
piness in the State. 

6. Promote as of primary importance institutions for the 
diffusion of knowledge among the people, as enlightened 
public opinion is essential for good government. Hence, 
educate the masses. 

7. Cherish public credit; observe good faith, and act 
justly towards all nations. 

8. The great rule of conduct for America in regard to 
foreign nations is, whilst extending our commercial rela- 
tions in peaceful channels, to have as little political con- 
nection with foreign Powers as possible. 

9. 'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent al- 
liances with any portion of the foreign world. It is not to 
be expected, nor should we calculate on real favours from 
one nation towards another. 

Comment on above principles are unnecessary. They 
have been firmly adhered to by Presidents and statesmen 
with much fidelity since the days of Washington in 
governing and guiding the Republic. 



Washington's second term as president. 245 

John Adams, his successor in the President's chair, 
wrote him at the time the French Directory insulted and 
sent home their Ambassadors and demanded tribute in 
cash from Congress. Adams, acting on the dictum of 
Washington, " that the best way to ensure peace was to 
be always ready for war," asked him to become Commander- 
in-Chief of the Forces and to organise the army. We will 
give the reply in extenso : — 

" Mount Vernon, 

" July 4th, 1798. 

" To J. Adams, President of U.S. 

'' Dear Sir — Not being in the habit since my return to 
private life of sending regularly to the P.O., nine miles from 
here, every post day, it often happens that letters to me 
are longer there than otherwise they should be. 

" I reciprocate your polite and flattering sentiments to 
myself, and I assure you, as far as in my power, I am pre- 
pared to support your administration and to make your 
term of office easy and happy and honourable. 

" I had no conception at the time of my retirement that 
tliere was any probability of an invasion of these States by 
any European Power. But this seems to be an age of 
wonders, and it is reserved for intoxicated France, for pur- 
poses of Providence far beyond the reach of human ken, 
to slaughter her own citizens and to disturb the peace of the 
world besides. 

" In case of actual invasion by a foreign force I certainly 
should not entrench myself under cover of age or retire- 
ment if my services should be required by my country to 
assist in repelling the enemy. And if there be good cause, 
which must be better known to the Government than to a 
private citizen, to expect such an event, delay in preparing 
for it might be dangerous, improper, and not to be justified 
by prudence. The uncertainty, however, of the event, in 
my mind, creates my embarrassment, for I cannot fancy. 



246 LIFfe O'F WASHINGTON. 

regardless as the French are of treaties and of the laws oi 
nations, and capable as I conceive them to be of any species 
of despotism and imposture, that they will attempt to 
invade this country after such a uniform and equivocal ex- 
pression of the sense of the j^eople in all parts to oppose 
them with their lives and fortunes. They have been led to 
believe by their agents and partisans amongst us that we 
are a divided people, that a part are opposed to their own 
Government, and that a show of a small force would occa- 
sion a revolt. I have no doubt, however, the folly of the 
Directory in such an attempt would, I conceive, be more 
conspicuous, if possible, than their wickedness. Having 
with candour made this disclosure of the state of my mind 
it remains only that I should add that if imperious circum- 
stances could induce me to renounce the smooth paths of 
retirement for the thorny ways of public life, at a period, 
too, when repose is most congenial to nature and in a calm 
indispensable to contemplation, it would be productive of 
sensations which can be more easily conceived than ex- 
pressed." 

In conclusion he advises the President to have recourse 
to the tried and trusted Generals of the late army for 
leaders and officers to drill and organise the new army. 

Great circumspection," he adds, " should be used in 
appointing the General Staff. In this I give you a decided 
opinion, as it is of the utmost importance to the public, to 
the army and to the officers commanding it. If this corps 
is not composed of resj)ectable characters who have know- 
ledge of the duties of their respective departments, and are 
active and firm men of integrity and prudence, such as 
the Commander-in-Chief can place confidence, his plans 
and movements may be thwarted and impeded. 

" You will excuse the liberty I have taken in thus 
speaking so freely, and believe me, yours, etc., 

" George Washington." 



Washington's second term as president. 247 

At the same time as the above letter was sent to the 
President, the Secretary of War, James McHenry — (by the 
\^'ay, McHenry was an Irishman of Ulster descent) — was 
written to by Washington. He tells him that it might be 
inexpedient to make him Commander-in-Chief considering 
the fact that the French were generalled by very young 
men — Napoleon at this time was about thirty years old. 
He insisted on the necessity of having men of integrity and 
grit, men of tried ability and experience, to fill the higher 
positions in the army. He adds : " I am not prompted b^? 
motives of ambition to embark at the call of the President 
and country again to enter the theatre of so arduous and 
responsible duties." He said that at his time of life, when 
the effects of an arduous life prompts retirement, his senti- 
ments can only be imagined at the prospect of starting 
anew upon the boundless field of public action, incessant 
trouble and high responsibilit}'. It was not possible for 
him to remain ignorant of or indifferent to recent transac- 
tions. The conduct of the Directory of France towards 
their country, their insidious hostilities to our Government 
and their many endeavours to withdi'aw the affections of 
our people from their country's cause, the evident ten- 
dency of their acts and those of their agents to violate the 
clear principles of the law of nations. " They warred upon 
our defenceless commerce," he wrote, " they rejected our 
ministers, they, in a word, demanded of us tribute. Such 
conduct towards our common country could not excite other 
than sentiments of aversion and resentment in my breast. 
Satisfied that you -have sincerely wished to avoid war and 
that you have exhausted the last drop of reconciliation, we 
can with pure hearts appeal to heaven for the justice of 
our cause, trusting to that kind Providence which has here- 
tofore favoured the people of the United States. With 
much deliberation I have resolved to accept the position of 
Commander-in-Chief, with a reserve that I shall not be 
called to take active command until the situation requires 



248 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

it and the matter becomes from the circumstajices pressing. 
Of course I will give my attention and aid and advice in 
arranging and organising the regiments. I will just add 
that I decline to accept any remuneration for my services 
except actual expenses." 

It was his wish that Generals Morgan and Lee and 
Colonels Marshall and Carrington should have command 
under him. Of course, as mentioned above, circumstances 
did not require the presence of the Commander in action. 
The invasion did not come off, but these letters will show 
the sterling character and true patriotism of the man. He 
during life carried out the motto which ruled him: — " I 
believe that man was not designed by the all-wise Creator 
to live for himself alone." 

From a letter addressed some time before his death to 
Mrs. Fairfax, an old friend of his and his family in early 
days, we can glean the sentiments that possessed him in 
retirement and the manner in which he spent his time at 
j\Iount Vernon. He writes her : 

" Before the war and even while it existed, although 1 
was eight years from home at one stretch, except the en 
passant visits made to it on my march to and from the siege 
of Yoiktown. 1 have made some addition since my residence 
here to my dwelling-house and alterations in my office, 
houses and gardens, which the dilapidations occurring by 
lapse of time and my absence occasioned. This work has 
occupied me much during the past twelve months." Again 
he tells her: — "A century hence, if this country keep 
united, will produce a city, though not so large as London 
yet of a magnitude inferior to few European cities, on the 
banks of the Potomac, where one is now being established 
for the seat of government of the United States. It is beau- 
tifully situated between xVlexandra and Georgeto^^ll in Mary- 
land. For commanding prospect, good water, salubrious air 
and safe harbour not excelled by any in the world." In 
concluriicn he says: — " At the age of 65 I am novr recom- 



DEATH AND BURIAL Ot" WASHINGTON. ^49 

mencio^ my agricultural pui'suits, which were always more 
congenial to me than the noise and bustle of public employ- 
ment. ' ' 

This letter gives a picture of Washington written by him- 
self, and lets us see him in retirement, as he was occupied 
up to the day of his death. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Death and Burial of Washington. — Characteristics. — 
His Place in History. 

On the 12th day of December, 1799, Washington rode out 
to his farm and came back from superintending some work 
at 3 P.M. On his return he wrote some letters, but did not 
post them, owing to the inclemency of the weather and 
the length of journey his servant would have to reach the 
office. On the 13th December he complained of a cold he 
had contracted the previous day, yet this did not prevent 
him from walking out to attend to some tree marking on his 
property. That same evening the cold became worse, and 
he complained of a hoarseness. Yet he was able to engage 
in reading some journals, and chatted with those around 
him. At 2 or 3 o'clock p.m. Mrs. Washington considered 
it wise to call in his old friend and family doctor. Dr. Craik. 
It was evident to those around that he was very unwell, and, 
as was customary in those days and common practice as 
a remedy, he was bled with leeches, but without any good 
result. On Saturday he said to his secretary, Mr. Lear : 
" I find I am going. My breath cannot last long. I be- 
lieved from the first that this -would be fatal. Do you 
arrange my late military papers; arrange also my accounts 
and letters and books." To an attendant by him he said: 
" I am afraid I shall fatigue you too much." And again 
he said : " Well, it is a debt we must pay each other, and I 



250 LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 

hope when your time comes you will find similar aid." To 
the doctor he said : *' Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid 
to die. I believed from my first attack that I should not 
last long. ' ' Again to his physicians he said : " I feel myself 
going. I thank you for your attendance. I pray you to take 
no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I can- 
not last long." 

He breathed his last at between 10 and 11 o'clock on 
Sunday morning, the 14th December, and was buried on the 
18th, amid the sorrow and grief of the American nation and 
the mourning and regret of the entire civilised world. 

The Senators of Congress, writing to John Adams, Presi- 
dent of the Republic, on receipt of the sad news, said : 

" Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears with yours. On 
such an occasion it is manly to weep. Om' country mourns 
a father. God has taken from us our greatest benefactor. 

" With patriotic pride we review* the life of Washington 
and compare him with those of other countries who have 
been pre-eminent in fame. Ancient and modern times are 
diminished before him. Greatness and guilt have been too 
often allied, but his fame is whiter than it is brilliant. The 
destrovers of nations stood abashed at the majestv of his 
virtues. 

" The scene is closed, and we are no longer anxious lest 
misfortune should sully his glory. He has deposited his 
weight of honour and glory in safety where misfortune can- 
not tarnish it nor malice blast it. Favoured of heaven, he 
departed without exhibiting the weakness of humanity. 
Magnanimous in death, the darkness of the grave could not 
obscure his brightness. 

" Washington yet lives on earth in his spotless example. 
Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic 
General, the patriotic statesman and the virtuous sage." 

Charles Macay, in his " History of the United States," 
writes thus of this event which so profoundly moved the 
American people: " America may well mourn over Wash- 



DEATH AND BURIAL OF WASHINGTON. 



^51 



mgton — her solitary hero truly — but one of the very rarest 
and noblest mould. Once or twice in the ancient heathen 
ages there had passed over the scene a character which 
foreshadowed, though but dimly, such an embodiment of 
pure patriotism. Yet they cannot be placed in the same 
class with him; whilst in recent times, not as a patriot, but 
even as a man, he stands almost without a rival and cer- 
tainly in prominence of glory alone. Such are the qualities 
on which the fame of Washington is built that they have 
made him not merely for the U.S. but for every land, both 
with citizen and rulers, the ideal of human excellence. Were 
an augury of future glory desired by the lovers of a nation in 
any clime, no happier one could be found than this, that 
the planting and nurturing by its freedom should be en- 
trusted to the hands of one like him." 

Brownson has left us some sage and Christian principles 
which may be appropriately quoted when considering the 
characteristics of Washington. '' Prudence," he says, " is 
a virtue, rashness is a sin, but my own reason and experi- 
ence have taught me that truth is a far more trustworthy 
support than the best devised schemes of human policy. 
Honesty is the best policy. Be honest with thyself, be 
honest with all the world, be true to thy convictions, be 
faithful to what truth teaches thee, be it ever so little, and 
never dream of supplying its defects by acuteness or craft." 
The above principle would seem to have guided Washington 
in every stage of his illustrious career. 

Eoosevelt speaking of greatness somewhere says: — 
** Eminent men ought to be viewed in the light of history 
and the effects that their lives and actions and statesman- 
ship had on their nation. Prominent characters are epoch- 
making. No greater blessing can be bestowed on a nation 
than virtuous and wise rulers. Wicked, reckless rulers are 
in like degree a curse to their age. In estimating the posi- 
tion in the niche of fame of eminent men one should not 
make their calculations from the amount of talents they 



252 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. 

possessed — John Wilkes was as talented as Junius — ^nor from 
the dazzling grandness of their actions — Napoleon in such 
a light has no equal in history — but rather let us estimate 
them by the moral influence of their lives and the degree 
in which they succeeded or failed to accomplish the good 
placed within their reach." Again he says: — " The great 
man is always the man of mighty effort and usually the 
man w-hom guiding need has trained to mighty eftort." 
Finally he remarks: — "The men who have made our 
national greatness are those who have faced danger and 
overcome it, who met difficulties and surmounted them." 
Of Washington he said : — " Take away the factor Washing- 
ton out of the American side in the Revolution and it is 
impossible to conceive American success." Truly this is a 
unique eulogy of our hero coming from one of his most 
distinguished successors in the office of President one hun- 
dred years later. 

Roosevelt compares America's two greatest sons thus: — 
Lincoln in the nineteenth century showed a greater Ameri- 
canism as head of the Republic than Washington." And 
in sterling worth and patriotism he looks upon them as 
equal in merit. ** Neither," he adds, " were men of tran- 
scendent ability, but both were notable for sterliug merit 
and honesty of purpose. iVmerica trusted both. Both 
were self-denying, unambitious, earnest and persevering in 
their integrity and high moral qualities." 

The policy of Washington, as we view his administration 
when Chief Magistrate, was to make America independent 
in thought and action. He opposed a wholesale colonizing 
of American territory by foreigners. He opposed importing 
a foreign staff of professors to teach the rising generation. 
He would have immigrants become assimilated with their 
institutions — in a word, Americanised. He worked day 
and night to lay the foundations of a great em-pire. He 
opposed localising and encoui'aged nationalising. The moral 
and intellectual upbuilding of the nation were his ideals more 



DEATH AND BURIAL OF WASHINGTON. '263 

than its material prosperity. He would have the moral and 
material go hand-in-hand in his ideal America. He was 
strongly opposed to yoimg Americans of fortune roaming 
abroad for education and knowledge, and in this connexion 
we append here an extract from his will, wherein he left 
large legacies for founding a National University at the seat 
of Government: — 

" It has always been a source of serious regret with me 
to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign 
countries for the purpose of education often before their 
minds are formed or they have imbibed any adequate ideas 
of the happiness of their own, contracting too frequently not 
only habits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles 
unfriendly to Republican Government and to the true and 
genuine liberties of mankind, which in after life are rarely 
overcome. Looking forward to the time when a University 
may be established in a central position in the United 
States to which youtli of fortune and talent may resort for 
the completion of their education, become attached to their 
own country and its laws and institutions and form friend- 
ships in youthful days that may foster a wider and broader 
love of nationhood and eradicate sectionalism and localism, 
so prejudicial to nationality and unity." 

Although he was reserved in manner, as a good father 
he never kept silent when the public good demanded plain 
speaking. He was most decided in all matters when his 
mind was convinced. Some critics — and he has had severe 
critics, like all pubUc characters — have asserted that he 
never initiated a policy nor imposed new ideas on his own 
responsibility when President of the Republic, and that it 
was easy for evil advisers to impose upon him. Jefferson, 
in a fit of party spleen, has most inconsistently made the 
above assertion in different words. If one means by new 
ideas, erratic and novel ideas, and if none possess gemus 
but the erratic, or that none can stamp their personality 
on an administration or point the way in legislation, but he 



254 LIFE OF WASniNGTON. 

vvho is irascible, who rules with the iron hand and hacks and 
cuts the disorder and canker like one who mows dow-n 
noxious weeds with a reaping-hook, then Washington w^as 
neither a great statesman nor a wise ruler. Washington's 
genius was of a methodic order; his was a well-balanced 
mind. He was prudent and cautious and difficult to 
deceive. In all his appointments for public offices he was 
invariably right. See how in his first Cabinet he gathered 
around him the very best genius that could be secured, and 
in selecting his Generals and Staff in the war he w^as 
rarely wrong. Arnold and Charles Lee were Generals of 
his own choice, and the only two that proved traitors to the 
cause. He selected them for their undoubted military 
genius, and it would have taken a kind of second sight to 
divine their characters as men. Both w^ere men of good 
social position and varied literary ability, and even King 
Adolphus of Sweden did not consider it beneath him to 
associate with the soldier of fortune, Charles Lee. 

Washington, as we saw in speaking of his civil adminis- 
tration, sought no united Cabinet, according to our modern 
ideas of harmony, as a pivot of statecraft. In fact, he did 
not by the Constitution require to consult the Cabinet, which 
W'Cre merely secretaries of departments. He asked no sup- 
pression of sentiment nor concealment of opinions. He 
exhibited no mean jealousy of high talents in others. He 
gathered around him the greatest public men of the nation, 
specialists in their own departments. He consulted the best 
advice within his reach, and after weighing the pros and 
cons with his calm, impartial mind he judged according to 
the dictates of his conscience. 

Washington surpasses most characters known to history 
in his persevering patriotism in his country's cause. His 
was a strenuous life. He lived in an age in his country's 
history the most momentous in its annals. Yet never once 
did he repine at the call of duty, never once turn a deaf 
ear to the bugle-call of his country's need. Never to his 



DEATH AND BURIAL OF WASHINGTON. 255 

latest day did he murmur at the half century given to 
humanity and to his native land. How different were the 
sentiments of Demosthenes, who put a soul of fire into his 
countrymen by his oratory, and when in prison just before 
he poisoned himself expressed himself thus to some young 
men who came to visit him: — "Meddle not with Stat« 
affairs. Had I at first had two courses proposed to me 
in youth, one leading direct to the Forum and the Assembly 
and the other leading to destruction, and had I foreseen the 
many evils attending those who deal in public affairs, such 
as fears, envies, jealousies, calumnies (md contentions, 1 
would certainly have chosen that which would have led me 
straight to death." And Danton, that man of truly gigantic 
parts, the real statesman among a swarm of fanatics in 
the Reign of Terror, and the real author of the revolutionary 
and insurrectionary edicts in the first stages of the crisis, 
when passing from tiie public stage to the scaffold as a holo- 
caust to faction, said: " Better for me I had never reached 
to fame." The regret of Danton was the regret of tens of 
thousands in the days of Washington, in the public arena 
of the French Kevolution. 

One who knew General Washington intimatel}', one who 
sat by his side as Secretary of State for five years, speaks 
of him thus : — * ' He was slow in operation but sure in con- 
clusion. He planned his battles judiciously. He was in- 
capable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the calmest 
unconcern. Perhaps the strongest feature in his character 
was prudence. He never acted in doubtful circumstances, 
but when his mind was decided he went straight forward, 
no matter what obstacles opposed, his integrity was pure, 
his justice inflexible, and no circumstances of consanguinity 
or friendship could bias his decision. His temper was natu- 
rally irascible, but well disciplined. In a word, he was a 
wise, a good, and a great man." 

Frederick the Great had a wonderful admiration for him 
after his retreat over the Jerseys and his victorv at Trenton, 



256 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 



his escape to Princeton and battle and victory there, and 
finally his going out from Philadelphia to face the conquering 
army of Howe coming in victorious. He said : '^ It is im- 
possible to conquer such an army led by sucli a General. 
The greatest soldier of his own or any ago." 

Lord Byron was also a great admirer of the Columbian 
hero. He calls Napoleon " The fool of false dominion and 
a kind of bastard CaBsar, following him of old with steps 
unequal." But of Washington he speaks: — 

Can tyrant but by tyrant conquered be, 

And freedom find no champion and no child 

Such as Columbia saw arise when she 

Sprang forth a Pallas armed and undefiled, 

Or must such minds be moidded in the wilds, 

Deep in impruned forest 'midst- the roar 

Of cataracts where nursing nature smiled 

On infant Washington? Has earth no more 

Such seeds within her breast or Europe such a shore? " 

Washington as General was kind and considerate for his 
army; never sacrificed life unnecessarily. Lafayette, when 
twitted regarding him with the fact that he never won any 
great battles, said: "No, sir, he conquered the entire 
British forces, the most powerful ever hitherto sent across 
the ocean, by skirmishes, flank attacks and hanging on the 
rear and outposts of the enemy." He was not a General 
of the Napoleon type to rush his army over burning deserts, 
across bridges or into death traps in the teeth of the 
enemy's artillery and grape shot, to be mowed down like 
glistening corn before the reaper, or to perish by hunger 
and frost, etc. He was on occasions fearless of danger 
in his ow^n person, as we have seen, but never sacrificed his 
men h^^ reckless Generalship. 

Mr. Cooper King, in a short history of the Army and Navy 
of the Revolution, gives an excellent appreciation of Wash- 
ington, a summary of which may here be given : "Washington 



DEATH AND BURIAL OF WASHINGTON. 257 

made the loose bones, so to speak, of the State militia into 
an army. He maintained and sustained the war when less 
devoted hearts than his would have grown faint. He fos- 
tered the French Alliance when none but he fully appre- 
ciated its enormous value. He formed and governed the 
constitution of his country and gave it time to breathe and 
invigorate itself. 

" Without being a great General he was the only one on 
the American side who had gauged the materials with which 
he had to work. He and Greene and Lafayette were possibly 
the only leaders who gauged the military situation in all its 
parts and therefore won substantial successes. His policy 
never failed. He only failed to reap rich results when he 
listened to advice different from his own. He had the 
peculiar advantage — an English virtue by the way — of never 
knowing when he was beaten and his motto, a family one, 
was * hope against hope and try, try, try again,' one, by the 
way, which most great men find unerring in achieving suc- 
cess. He had the genius of all great men, a peculiar 
facility of infusing his own spirit into his army. His per- 
sonal influence was very great with his soldiers as well as 
with the civil authority which he never disobeyed. It was 
his personal appeals that roused the dying patriotism of 
Congress in the early Eighties that found out the source 
of their finance, Eobert Morris. He it was that sent 
Laurens to Louis and spurred on Franklin to send home the 
sinews of war to start the allied forces on their last cam- 
paign to Yorktown and victory. 

It is interesting to read how changed is the note sounded 
by modern English writers and in fact by the English states- 
men and people generally in regard to Washington. We 
saw how the present government honoured Washington a 
short time ago in the city of London by erecting a monu- 
ment to his memory. After this fashion speaks one, Mr. 
Belcher, a writer of anti-American prejudices, but who has 

R 



258 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

been so far just to the memory of the immortal Washington 
as to speak of him in these words : 

Washington stands aloof. Of him it borders on pre- 
sumption to say he is in the sense a John the Baptist of 
America, true to his trust, with a miraculous gift of self- 
effacement, unswerving in his ideals, making the path of 
the great nation straight, without professional education, 
without even much elementary education, his youthful time 
spent in the wild west of his own province, a boy warrior 
like Clive or Hannibal, but unlike them in this that he 
fought neither for aggrandizement nor empire. One of those 
men whom one might, without irreverence, call divine; the 
instrument of a Divine purpose chosen to lay stronger and 
better foundations than he knew." 

Robertson, in his pen-pictures of great men among the 
Presidents of America, thus writes of Washington: " He 
can never be equalled because he lived in an age that can 
never return, and circumstances gave him opportunities for 
exertions that no man ever had before or can have after him. 
He was a warrior raised up for the peculiar struggle of the 
Revolution. His was a personality to inspire soldier and 
statesman with confidence in his capacity and wisdom. He 
v/as born to deliver his country from tyranny, to lead her 
as a statesman to a high position among the nations. He 
was unmoved by the shock of party and silent 'midst the 
denunciations of demagogues. He read men with great 
sagacity and selected his officers for their talents and pro- 
bity. He was seldom wrong in his judgments. He may 
have erred in judgments, but he never committed foolish 
acts. He was truly the father of his country." 

We may conclude this chapter by letting two brilliant 
writers, representing two continents, speak — one a French- 
man, the other an American. The Marquis De Costellux was 
a great admirer of Washington's, like many noble French- 
men, from the days of the American war. The Marquis 



DEATH AND BURIAL OF WASHINGTON: 259 

was on friendly relations with the General and enjoyed his 
company as his guest whilst on a friendly visit with the 
French army in America. He wrote: "The strangest char- 
acteristic of this remarkable man is the perfect union which 
reigns between his physical and moral qualities which com- 
pose the individual. One alone will suffice to enable you 
to judge of all the rest. If you were presented with a medal 
of Caesar or Trojan or Alexander, on examining their features, 
you will be led to ask what was their stature or the form of 
their persons, but if you discover in a heap of ruins the 
head or the limb of an antique Apollo be not curious about 
the other parts, but rest assured they will all be conformable 
to those of the god. Let not this comparison be attributed 
to enthusiasm which rather would reject it since the effect 
of proportion is to diminish the idea of greatness. Brave 
without temerity, laborious without ambition, generous 
^without prodigality, noble without pride, virtuous with- 
out severity; he seems always to have confined himself 
within these limits where the virtues, by clothing them- 
selves in more lively but more changeable and doubtful hue, 
may be mistaken for faults. This is the seventh year he 
has commanded (1782) the army and that he has obliged 
Congress; more need not be said, especially in America, 
where they know how to appreciate all the merit contained 
in this simple fact. Let it be repeated that Cond^ was 
intrepid, Tureane prudent, Eugene adroit. It is not thus 
that Washington will be characterized. It will be said of 
him at the end of a long civil war, he had nothing with 
which he could reproach himself. If anything can be more 
marvellous than this it is the unanimity of the public suf- 
frages in his favour. Soldier, magistrate, people all love 
and admire him ; all speak of him in terms of tenderness and 
admiration. Does there then exist a virtue capable of 
restraining the injustice of mankind, or are glory and hap- 
piness too recently established in America for envy to have 
deigned to pass the sentence ? 



260 LIFE OF WASHINGTON, 

" In speaking of this perfect whole, of which General 
Washington was a type, I have not excluded exterior form. 
His stature was noble and lofty. He is well made and 
exactly proportioned, his physiognomy mild and agreeable, 
but such as to render it impossible to speak particularly of 
any feature. So that in quitting his presence you have only 
the recollection of a fine face. He has neither a grave nor a 
familiar air; his brow is sometimes marked with thought, 
but never with ineptitude; in inspiring respect he inspires 
confidence and his smile is always the smile of benevolence. 

" General in a Eepublic, he has not the stateliness of a 
Marshal of France who gives the order; a heroin a Eepublic, 
he excites another sort of respect which seems to spring from 
the sole idea that the safety of each single person is attached 
to his person." 

The Rev. Jesse T. Peck, of Boston, over sixty years ago, 
published a book on the American Republic, in which he 
extolled the first President in terms with which we are in 
complete accord : 

" Washington," he said, " at the conclusion of the war for 
Independence, had reached the highest degree of popular in- 
fluence and power. He had with unaffected modesty and 
self-distrust occupied the position of the greatest responsi- 
bility and personal danger in the Revolution. No one knew 
better than he what must follow him if the colonies failed 
in their struggle, first for right and then for Independence." 
Franklin willingly said of those embarked in the fight : ' ' We 
must all hang together or we will be hanged separately." 
Humanly speaking, every circumstance told against success. 

But the people had seen him move calmly into the field 
of danger. They had seen him inspiring old and young to 
join the standard of liberty. They saw the confused mass 
reduced to order and efficiency by the firmness of his com- 
mand, the strength of military wisdom. They had seen 
him stand up in danger in the face of the enemy with colos- 
sal majesty when his feeble army was reduced by many 



FRENCH REVOLUTION AND AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 261 

causes to vanishing point. They saw him great enough 
to retreat in the teeth of reproaches from his own country- 
men when in truth an engagement would have imperilled 
his army and cause. They had seen him share with the 
soldiers their sufferings in hunger and weary marches. They 
had seen him struggle for the army when the poverty of the 
country deprived it of necessaries. They had seen him rise 
above all sections and petty jealousies and treasonable con- 
spiracies when he had failed to accomplish the impossible. 
They had seen him in the might of his firm will punishing 
cowardice and treason until they dare not even whisper their 
discontents, and still the beloved of all. They had seen 
him just as calm and firm after defeat as after victory. 
They had seen him in strength move to and fro amid the 
perils of a camp for eight years and all too firmly refusing 
any pay, while looking for means and money from Congress 
for his army. Finally, they had seen him on his knees in 
prayer to God. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

French Kevolution and American Affairs. 

The enmity which had long subsisted between the powers 
of England and France was not likely to be lessened by the 
conspicuous part which the latter acted when the ambitious 
King of England invaded American rights and vainly opposed 
the united will of a people struggling to be free. The happy 
effects of the American Kevolution were felt throughout the 
globe and over the waves of the Atlantic to the Old World 
was wafted the spirit of liberty which tyrants have combated 
but never can subdue, to quote Teeling in his history of 
the Irish Rebellion. The Right Honourable Thomas Erskine, 
the celebrated constitutional lawyer and a Lord Chancellor 
of England, in a debate on Earl Grey's motion for Parlia- 



'^62 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

mentary Eeform in making an appeal on behalf of Ireland, 
referred to ^' that system of coercion which drove America 
to rebellion and into the arms of France and which is driving 
Irelandatthepointof the bayonet into insurrection." " Such 
a system of terror and tyranny, ' ' he said, ' * as Ministers seem 
resolved to persevere in has made half Europe submit to the 
arms of France. The nations with which she contended 
had no privileges to fight for nor any governments worth 
preserving. Take warning from so many examples. The 
principles of revolution are eternal and universal," 

When the Marquis De Lafayette, who gave the order to 
his citizen army, with twenty-eight thousand rifles in their 
hands, taken the night before from the Invalides to storm 
the Bastile, sent the key of that relic of feudalism to 
Washington, his old General, with the accompanying mes- 
sage : * * As a tribute (the key of this captured fortress of 
despotism) which I owe you, as son to my father 
by adoption, as aide de camp to my General, as 
missionary of liberty to its patriarch." The mes- 
senger who carried this relic of the fortified dun- 
geon, this prison which had held in terror evil-doers 
and immured in which many patriot hearts pined and hun- 
gered and died down the preceding centuries, on reaching 
his journey's end is said to have remarked: ** I am happy 
in being the person through whom the Marquis has con- 
veyed this easy trophy of the spoils of despotism — and the 
first ripe fruits of American principles transplanted to 
Europe — to his great master and patron." That the prin- 
ciples of America opened the Bastile is not to be doubted, 
and therefore the key came to the right place. 

Washington, who was much interested in his late pupil 
and General, accepted the key with reverence. He wished 
well to the Bevolution, conducted as it was in its initial 
stages on constitutional lines. He took it in the spirit in 
which it was given as a token of victory gained by liberty 
over despotism. He wrote thanking his young friend for the 



FRENCH REVOLUTION AND AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 263 

prized gift and warned him to be careful on the hazardous 
journey he had set out upon as Commander of the Citizen 
Army, the nucleus of the National Guard of our day. He 
congratulated him on the conspicuous part he had taken 
and the successes he had achieved in the interests of liberty 
for the French nation. 

From the authorities, who inform us of these circum- 
stances, we are led to infer that the American Eevolution 
was the chief, if not the only, cause of the French upheaval. 
Now students of history know that such an assumption is 
only partially true. There were numerous causes and cir- 
cumstances moving openly and secretly, remotely and proxi- 
mately, negatively and positively, foreign and domestic, to 
bring about this mighty conflagration. That the American 
war expedited and in some way immediately acted as an 
igniting power we cannot doubt. That the wood was a- 
gathering for the fire from many quarters and a-drying and 
seasoning prior to the advent of America on the scene is also 
certain. But America led the way in the van of liberty. 
She fought for her freedom and she conquered. French 
and American soldiers from their victory at Yorktown w&ce 
friends and brothers, and a spirit of Independence did fol- 
low the fleets of De Grasse and the soldiers of Eochambeau 
across the Atlantic waters to la belle France. Young 
Lafayette, a noble of the first rank, spent several years in 
America, fighting for liberty, and when he went home in 
1784 to his own country, he and Jefferson, the American 
Ambassador in Paris, formed a school of young men, officers, 
lawyers, litterateurs, philosophers. Ladies also joined their 
reunions and clubs, audit became the mode to discuss politics 
and enumerate principles and theories on governments, kings 
and rulers. The spirit spread by these clubs — known as the 
Breton Clubs — quite constitutional and well conducted, was 
Republican. There were extremists as there are in all move- 
ments. There were men like Paine and Jefterson, who 
would root up monarchy and wipe away all distinctions of 



^64 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. 

rank. There were the more constitutional members led 
by Lafayette and Mirabeau, Eochambeau, Bouille, Dumas 
and the Commanders in the army generally who would not 
level down everything to a dead level. In the French army 
none could be officers or commanders if not of aristocratic 
origin. This class, whilst enlightened in the school of 
liberty and superficially imbued with the teaching of Eous- 
seau, Voltaire and Helvetius, were neither against monarchy 
nor nobihty as such ; they only advocated more of the elective 
element in the composition of the legislature. They con- 
sidered that France was safer under a monarchy, with a king 
cribbed and clipped of his autocratic power, with a House 
of Peers after the Scotch system, with about a hundred in 
number elected by themselves and a House of Representa- 
tives similar to the American Congressmen. Such were some 
of the changes the leaders of the Revolution first aimed at. 
We know how this Patriot party agitated for a change of 
government and the difficulties of the Court party made it 
an easy matter for the Tiers Etat to gain the ascendancy. 
The Court of Louis was an intriguing, corrupt and expensive 
institution. Despotic as was that of his father Louis XV., a 
vicious old voluptuous man, ruled by a mistress of low birth, 
Louis XVI. was the antithesis of his father; he was virtuous, 
learned and wise, considering the wisdom of European 
monarchs of his day. George was mad; Paul I. also feeble. 
France, by her perpetual wars, was heavily in debt. The 
English and American wars had left the Exchequer com- 
pletely drained. The people were taxed beyond endurance. 
New demands to meet the increasing expenditure of the 
Court were constantly coming up in every budget. Marie 
Antoinette was a most extravagant princess and Louis was 
too fond and indulgent to curtail her expenses or keep in 
check the despotism of the Court. The Duke of Orleans, 
the wealthy brother of Louis, was a bad man who, though 
without much mental ability, ambitioned to undermine and 
overthrow his brother, whether with the object of usurpation 



FRENCH REVOLUTION AND AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 265 

or to sweep away the throne circumstances do not enable us 
to divine. The aristocratic party were unbending. The 
high ecclesiastics were equally averse to yield to the Bour- 
geoise, or to sit with them to deliberate about the affairs of 
the nation and mould a form of government that would 
neither be despotic or out of touch with the nation. The 
nation was ripe for reform and the ruling power would not bend 
nor listen to reason. We know the result as it appeared in 
the different stages of the Eevolution. The Bastile was 
stormed without much bloodshed. The King was forced 
to come and live in Paris. He escaped and was captured. 
He was insulted in his palace in the Tuileries — made to don 
the Eed Cap of the Eevolution. He was despoiled of his 
Swiss Guard when the palace was rushed by a howling mob 
and his brave soldiers sabred in the very halls of the Eoyal 
residence. The King and Queen and family had to seek 
refuge in the Convention. The Jacobin clubs, successors 
of the old Breton club, were now universal over France, 
and all powerful and supreme. They called out for the 
deposition of the King. The Convention, practically a 
tool in the hands of the Jacobin and Cordelier clubs, had to 
hand over the King a prisoner to the Insurrectionary authori- 
ties. Soon all the crowned heads of Europe were in an 
armed league against the French Eepublic and soon a mil- 
lion soldiers were in arms led by young French Generals, 
fired with revolutionary zeal, to meet north, south and east 
the enemy swarming in upon their borders. The prisons 
were filled with nobles, aristocratic suspects, King, prince, 
priest and all that were not clubite advocates. The King 
and Queen and many of the nobility soon ascended the 
guillotine. Amongst the first victims were two or three 
hundred priests who would not take the oath. Thousands 
of suspects, some of them boasting the best blood in France, 
perished miserably without the semblance of a trial. The 
Eoyal tombs were desecrated and pillaged for the treasures 
they contained and the dust of a venerable line of sovereigns 



266 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

and princes scattered to the winds or emptied into the Seine. 
Atheism became the religion of the clubs. The creed of 
" No God, no hereafter " was adopted by the Kepublic, and 
a " Goddess of Eeason " was raised upon an altar for the 
heathenish adulation of an intoxicated populace. Revolu- 
tionary tribunals were erected and Insurrectionary laws put 
in force. Danton, Robespierre, Marat, Cauthon, Sauterre 
and Saint Just, Hebert and such like fanatic Terrorists ruled 
and directed the whirlpool of the Reign of Terror. Each, 
however, in turn, like the Kilkenny cats, to be destroyed 
when faction turned against faction and fear caused the 
leaders to turn their swords in terror one against the other. 

French arms in the field of battle were everywhere trium- 
phant, but the nation was devastated. Liberty was not 
yet. The tyranny of the apostles of liberty was a greater 
despotism than France knew hitherto, but she had tumbled 
down the nobility. She had taught rulers and people the 
power of the democracy, roused to fury and awakened from 
its slumber of centuries. Then, as every student of history 
knows, a Cromwell arose in the person of Napoleon, made 
himself successively dictator and consul and finally had him- 
self crowned by a successor of St. Peter and enthroned on 
the chair of the Bourbons and Capets. 

France, in the Revolution had practically, in 1792, lost 
the sympathy of the civilized world. She stood alone after 
the dethronement and assassination of Louis and his fair 
spouse Marie Antoinette. The leaders, in the mad course 
which France had entered upon, became intoxicated with 
their success and their power. They soon perceived that 
every hand was turned against them and in turn they struck 
out to right and left against their real enemies in arms and 
against everyone, friend or foe, whom they suspected. " He 
that is not with me is against me ' ' would seem to have been 
their motto under the Reign of Terror. The author of what- 
ever was statesmanlike in the whirligig of the Revolution — 
Danton — in an address to the Convention, gives the motives 



FRENCH REVOLUTION AND AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 267 

which actuated him in launching his cruel insurrectionary 
measures. "In times of tranquillity," he says, " society 
would prefer that the guilty should escape rather than that 
the innocent should be punished, because the guilty are then 
not so dangerous. But as danger increases society will 
become more implacable, and when danger becomes so im- 
minent as to threaten destruction, suspicion is considered 
as a proof and all are regarded as criminals whose conduct 
is in any way equivocal. Such is the character of a dictator- 
ship. It is rapid, arbitrary, indiscriminating, but irre- 
sistible." Eobespierre said that the principle mode of opera- 
tion in a democratic government, whilst gaining a firm foot- 
ing, is through terror. " Boldness " was the watchword 
that Danton belched forth as the true means of success in 
Army and Convention. The chief causes that spurred on 
the Communes, Committees, Clubs and their leaders in 
the awful reign of Terror to seek speedy riddance of the 
suspects, traitors to the revolution, aristocrats and Royalists, 
were the temporary reverses on the frontiers sustained at 
the hands of the Austrians and Prussians, the intriguing of 
Pitt with the Vendeans and Brittany. It was thought that 
no success could be attained in their tumbling down policy 
until the last vestige of Bourbonism and clericalism was 
rooted up. ** We must," says Danton, " make the Loyalists 
afraid of us." Money was necessary to feed the famishing 
sans culottes, to keep the armies and the host of commis- 
sioners in action, and pay the committees and the Bour- 
geoise militia who kept guard in Paris. Hence wealth 
was taxed; the property of those guillotined was confiscated, 
paper money issued in millions of francs, and the churches 
. robbed over France of all their valuables, and plunder and 
spoils procured wherever the arms of the Revolution were 
successful. 

One need not wonder that after war was proclaimed by the 
French insurrectionary party against England in 1793 and 
the Convention looking over the wide world could see no 



268 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

nation that might befriend them but America, that Wash- 
ington, appalled at the ocean of difficulties and troubles 
confronting this unfortunate nation, should, after mature 
deliberation, announce to the world his policy of neutrality 
and his friendliness commercially considered with both bel- 
ligerents. His proclamation to the nation forbade the 
citizens of the United States to take part in any hostilities 
on the seas and warned them against carrying to belligerents 
any articles deemed contraband according to the usages of 
nations, or doing anything inconsistent with the duties of 
a friendly nation towards those in war. This proclamation 
was forwarded to the belligerents and published over the 
United States. This policy, enunciated now for the first 
time, of steering clear of, and keeping aloof from, European 
wars, was a bitter pill for France to swallow. It was re- 
verently accepted at first by the States, bearing as it did 
the imprimatur of their revered President, but there was 
no act of his administration which tended more to launch 
him on the billowy waves of growing faction during the 
second term of his administration than this policy and his 
firm and unbending adhesion to it. The banishment of 
Lafayette and the beheading of Louis, the imprisonment and 
death or banishment of many eminent Frenchmen who had 
campaigned in America, but who did not see eye to eye with 
tiie Kevolutionists, had steeled Washington in his resolves 
not to embroil his infant charge in these European convul- 
sions. His aid could have availed little to France; it might 
have ruined America. 

Washington's policy and sentiments were well known 
regarding the Revolution in France. He deplored the ex- 
tremes to which factions had driven the nation. He wished 
well to the nation, though it was not the same nation that 
had once aided America. Men like Lafayette, Dumas, 
Bouille, Bochambeau, De Grasse and the rest were laid 
to the one side, and with the school of Robespierre and Marat 
and the other disciples of Rousseau who held the reins of 



FRENCH REVOLUTION AND AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 269 

government he had no sympathy. Nor indeed had his more 
solid and sane fellow-countrymen much in common with 
them. Washington, from his high position, viewed the 
matter with a sagacity that divined the future, and his 
actions and policy were guided by true statesmanship 
He was as one who stands on the sea-coast beside a mighty 
city in the midst of a fog that has hidden both land and sea 
from his view. Such a one hears sounds of fog horns at 
sea, shrills are frequent and the shrieks of befogged motors 
flying home to the city or coursing around in the darkness. 
So Washington in that crisis had nothing to guide him but 
shrieks and alarms. How the more serious minds in 

America viewed the French Eevolution and the Keign of 
Terror might well be summed up in the eloquent words of 
Hamilton, Secretary to the Treasury under Washington, a 
constructive statesman of a conservative tendency and not 
without a fondness for English institutions. He says : 

" The cause of France bears no comparison with the cause 
of America in our late Eevolution. Would to heaven we 
could discern in the mirror of French affairs the same 
decorum, the same gravity, the same order, the same dig- 
nity, the same solemnity that distinguished the cause of the 
American Eevolution ! When I contemplate the horrid and 
systematic massacres of the 2nd and 3rd of September, when 
I observe a Marat and a Eobespierre sit triumphantly in the 
Convention, when I see the unfortunate prince whose reign 
was a continued demonstration of the goodness and bene- 
volence of his heart, of his attachment to the people, who, 
though educated in the lap of despotism, had given repeated 
proofs that he was not an enemy of liberty, brought pre- 
cipitately and ignominiously to the scaffold without any 
substantial proof of his guilt, without any authentic motives 
and without decent regard for the opinion of mankind ; when 
I find the doctrines of atheism openly advanced in Conven- 
tion and heard with loud applauses, when I see the sword 
of fanaticism extended to force a political creed upon citizens 



270 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

who were invited to submit to the arms of France as the 
harbingers of liberty, when I behold the hand of rapacity 
outstretched to prostrate and ravish the monuments of reli- 
gion erected by those citizens and their ancestors, when I 
perceive passion, tumult and violence usurping seats where 
reason and cool deliberation ought to preside, I am glad 
to believe that the cause of France is not the cause of 
America. I regret whatever has a tendency to confound 
them. I feel anxious that the ebullitions of inconsiderate 
men among us may not tend to involve us in the issue." 
Washington saw in this matter eye to eye with Hamilton. 
He saw a boundless sea of turmoil and anarchy whence no 
land was in view. 

The bitterness of the Eevolution party in France was ex- 
treme at this action of Washington, and advocates of the 
cause of France in both hemispheres considered his conduct 
as showing a leaning to England — led in this direction as 
they would make us believe by the monocratic, John Adams, 
President of the Senate. History has acquitted Washington 
of any error in this matter and views him at this juncture 
as the father of his country, saving America from herself. 

Hilaire Belloc, in his life of Danton sums up the sane 
verdict of history in this connection better than Thiers, the 
historian of the Eevolution. He says : ' ' Another people — 
then in their infancy, now old — whom Louis had been per- 
suaded to help against his will received the death of Louis 
like a kind of blow in the face. The people of the United 
States in their simplicity had imagined the French King 
to be their saviour; they did not know that Louis had said 
that he was dragged into espouse their cause. 'Advantage 
being taken of my youth.' They regarded his crown with a 
certain superstition as they still regard what is left of baubles 
in Europe, and when the axe fell upon him France lost not 
alone the calculating hypocrisy of Pitt, but the genuine sym- 
pathy of the American people." 



FRENCH REVOLUTION AND AMERICAN AFFAIRS. 271 

Citizen Genet, a fiery Revolutionist, was sent out by the 
Revolutionists to represent them in America at the seat of 
Government. Like all the emissaries who went forth on 
missions from the Clubs and committees of Paris — the real 
seat of power in France at this time — he had exaggerated 
ideas of his powers and his watchword, as Danton enunci- 
ated it, was " boldness," nay, " audacity." Men like 
Marat, Danton and St. Just spoke boldly and announced 
most extreme insurrectionary views and propounded most 
cruel and aggressive measures, and their commissioners not 
alone carried out their doctrines to the letter, but as most 
inexperienced man, ambitious of pleasing their patrons and 
paymasters, they exceeded their briefs and were not over 
delicate about the mode of action. They were without 
diplomatic training, most imperious, inexperienced and, by 
education as well as training, ill-fitted for the work assigned 
them. Most of them were young men fired with enthu- 
siasm in the cause of the Revolution. Their aim was to 
gain their end by fair or foul means, no matter how dis- 
agreeable their conduct might afiect others. Citizen Genet 
was one of a class of agents used by the Committee of Public 
Safety with their auxiliary clubs whose powers express or 
implied were illimitable. They had powers to dictate to 
Generals at the front, depose, promote or thwart them at 
will. Every General led his army, prior to Napoleon's 
advent, with the knowledge that victory meant honours; 
defeat led to the guillotine. The fate of Custine to-day 
might be that of others as brave and daring to-morrow. 

Is it any wonder that Genet, such a typical agent of 
such insensate masters, should create so much turmoil 
among the American people and cause such vexation to 
Washington in his official capacity as Chief Magistrate ? He 
acted when he arrived on American soil at Charleston, one 
hundred miles from Philadelphia, as if his powers were un- 
limited. In the ordinary course he should have directly 
presented himself before the President at Philadelphia and 



272 



LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 



liad his commission and authority recognized. But no ! No 
sooner was he on dry land than he proclaimed himself the 
Minister of the French Bepublic and began to enlist Ameri- 
cans and fit out cruisers to setout on hostile missions against 
English ships hovering around or merchant vessels trading 
to the West Indies. These agents of the Genet type were 
the real Terrorists in motion of the Eevolution. They 
committed crimes on their presumed responsibility that 
condemned the Eevolution in the eyes of all sane men, and 
in history have helped to blacken and degrade the French 
character and nation. Many of these agents are looked 
upon by history as lunatics let loose to destroy and devastate 
and pull down everything that the democracy and liberty 
might rise and rule. The wonder is that Genet did not 
commit himself more seriously in America, and that Wash- 
ington did not sooner tie his hands. But he was bold, ho 
was active, and he was not without previous diplomatic 
experience, and he was not without a host of sympathisers 
among the Eepublicans of America. A weak President 
might have ruined the infant Eepublic of America in the 
panic created hj this bold emissary of France. The French 
saw how useful a fleet of American cruisers would have been 
against British fleets in the Western waters. Genet, aided 
by many sympathizing journals and some prominent Ameri- 
cans, pushed the cause of his country to the utmost limits. 
He was feasted and applauded wherever he went. The 
Frencli flag and cockade and Eed Cap of the Eevolution, as 
well as Democratic clubs similar to the clubs of France, were 
everywhere in evidence. England, through her Minister, 
sent in strongly-worded protests to Washington about his 
seeming indifference to all these acts by sea and land in con- 
travention of his neutral policy. America was beginning to 
get kicked and cuffed by both belligerents, but the end soon 
came. Washington, though worried to death, though cari- 
catured and lampooned, though accused of ineptitude and 
leanings towards England, took firmly in his hands the 



Washington's coNTiau'oitAuiiis. 273 

reinw ol goverunieut, and as Lead of the Executive refused 
to allow Americans to equijj vessels for French service; 
refused to allow American ports to be ports of refuge to 
the belligerents after their 'depredations ; put down the 
Democratic clubs, condemned the Frenchified magazines, 
and ordered home Genet as an unsuitable agent to America. 
Thus by the bold, firm and far-seeing statesmanship of 
Washington, though at the temporary loss of his great popu- 
larity and peace of mind, he held firm to his policy of 
neutrality in all foreign wars and complications, and so 
for all time saved the American nation and allowed her 
peace to advance in wisdom, happiness and prosperity until 
to-day she is the mightiest power in the world. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Washington's Contemporaries — Franklin, Jefferson 

AND Paine. 

In treating of Washington and his army and those who 
aided him under the directions of Congress to bring about 
the liberation of America, we cannot avoid reference to two 
men whose names are familiar to historical readers of this 
epoch, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. 

Franklin was born in Boston on the 6th of January, 1700, 
and died in Philadelphia in the year 1790. His father 
was a soap boiler and tallow chandler, and had seventeen 
children, of whom Benjamin was the youngest. At the age 
of ten he was apprenticed to his eldest brother in the 
printing trade, who treated him harshly. Soon we find him 
as a boy unfriended and with but one dollar in his pocket, 
commencing to earn his livelihood in Philadelphia. After 
working at the printing trade for a salary for a few years 
we find him setting out for l^ondon in the year 1725 when 
just nineteen years old, to purchase a plant for starting the 
s 



^74 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

printing business on his own account. After working for 
some time at different occupations he commenced in 1729 
to print and edit a magazine, and a year later he took 
to himself a wife. From the year 1732 till 1752 in the 
gazette, which he edited, appeared the famous sayings of 
" Poor Eichard, or the Way to Wealth." These sayings 
have insured the lasting fame of Franklin as a philosoj)her 
and sage, were familiar in his own day to the rising genera- 
tion of two continents, and many of them are household 
maxims of our time. Franklin might be classed as a great 
projector and patenter of many movements which later 
generations took up and carried to success. He advocated 
bills of Exchange in paper. He originated the first fire 
brigade service in America, projected the first American 
Academy, the nucleus of the present Pennsylvania Univer- 
sity, advocated hospitals, and raised funds in his journal 
to build the first hospital in Philadelphia. He was a man 
of great industry, most regular in his habits, of great powers 
of perseverance, and had been from his earliest days a most 
assiduous student in the natural sciences. His name will 
go down in history, indissolubly linked with the earliest dis- 
coveries in the science of Electricity, in which branch of 
knowledge he was an experimenter and a discoverer. In 
the year 1752 he discovered the identity of Lightning and 
Electricity. It was he who invented the lightning-rod con- 
ductor for defending buildings. Sir George Trevelyan, in 
his history of the American Eevolution, writes thus of 
Franklin, when he set sail in an American-built frigate for 
Paris as Commissioner: "His immense popularity was 
founded on a solid basis of admiration and esteem. The 
origin of his fame dated from a time which seemed fabulously 
distant to the existing generation (he was then 70 years). 
His qualities and accomplishments were genuine and un- 
pretentious, and his services to the world were appreciated 
by high and low, ricli and poor, in every country where men 
learned books or profited by the discoveries of science. His 



Washington's contemporaries. 275 

' Poor Eichard ' — which expounded and elucidated a code 
of rules for the every-day conduct of life with sagacity that 
never failed and wit that very seldom missed the mark — had 
been thrice translated into French, had gone through many 
editions and had been recommended by priests and bishops 
for common use in their parishes and schools. As an ex- 
perimentalist and investigator he was more widely known 
even than as an author, for he had always aimed at making 
natural philosophy the handmaid of material progress. He 
was looked upon as a public benefactor in every civilized, 
community over the world." " His reputation," 

says Adams, " was more universal than Leibnitz or 
Newton; his name was familiar to government and people 
in foreign countries, to nobility, clergy, philosophers as well 
as to plebeians, to such a degree that there was scarcely a 
peasant or a citizen, a valet, coachman or footman, cham- 
bermaid or scullion who did not consider him a friend to 
humanity." 

A French author is equally eulogistic of this wonderful 
man as his countryman John Adams : " His mission flat- 
tered all the bright and generous ideas which animated 
France. He caressed our happiest hopes, our most gilded 
chimeras. He came across the ocean to win liberty for his 
own country, and he brought liberty to us. He was the 
representative of a people still primitive. His creed was 
toleration and kindness of heart. France prostrated herself 
at the feet of a man who had no caprices, no passions. She 
made him the symbol and object of her adoration, and 
Franklin took rank above Voltaire and Rousseau by the side 
of Socrates." It was not to be wondered that such a man, 
with such a record, so famed the world over and so adored 
by the rising generation of France, should prove a Leviathan 
in Diplomacy ; in fact he proved himself the greatest diplo- 
mat in his own or any age. Franklin, at seventy, had not 
been unused to appear at foreign courts. He had been 
sixteen years in England prior to the Revolution as agent for 



276 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the colonies. It was during those years that honours were 
showered upon him by the leading Universities of Great 
Britain and the French Academy of Science, and it was 
during those years that he learned how little knowledge and 
less consideration the Enghsh Parliament and nation had 
for the American colonies. When he failed to convince the 
King and his Cabinet that it was foolish to coerce or tyran- 
nize over America he sailed back to his native America, 
threw off his coat at Boston and later at Philadelphia, in 
the Congress when Independence was proclaimed in 1776. 
In the autumn of the same year he left for France, and for 
many years until he signed the treaty of peace in 1783 he 
acted a giant's part in shipping men, money, arms and am- 
munition to enable the army under Washington to hunt for 
ever the English army from American shores. Wharton, in 
his " Digest of International Law," says : " Franklin's work 
as a diplomat endures to this hour, whilst the works of 
Talleyrand have long since perished. It was Franklin who 
introduced America on a footing of equality into the councils 
of Europe, and who, in a truer sense than Canning, called 
the New World into existence to redress the balance of the 
Old. His great achievement was the final settlement by 
treaty with Great Britain, a settlement which has been of 
the greatest benefit to both contracting parties and to civili- 
zation as a whole, and has been the least affected by the 
flow of time." 

It may here be interesting to summarize what Franklin 
effected as diplomat or commissioner for his country and 
how he accomplished the work so eloquently attested to by 
Wharton. When Franklin sailed for France in the first 
American vessel that crossed the ocean with freight for 
Europe his fame had gone before him and his name, as we 
saw, was like a magic wand with the young intellectuals of 
France who had learned radicalism and revolutionary ideals 
in theory at the feet of Voltaire and Rousseau. Franklin's 
first move was to offer friendship and alliance on behalf of 








FRANKLIN. 



Washington's contemporaries, 277 

the United States to France and to Spain, The commis- 
sioners were not amiss in asking. They petitioned for 30,000 
firelocks and bayonets and eight war frigates. The French 
King was courteous, but politely refused to enter into any 
negotiations that would endanger hostilities between His 
Britannic Majesty. However, secretly, France was dis- 
posed to encourage the Eevolution, and Franklin had little 
trouble in bringing about an alliance for offensive and defen- 
sive purposes a year later. Seeing that Britain and France 
were at peace when Franklin arrived in Paris the English 
Cabinet, knowing the diplomatic worth of the wily American, 
remonstrated, and De Vergennes, Foreign Secretary, to 
quiet their fears, wrote their Ambassador in London, the 
Marquis De Noailles, that the old man was merely in their 
midst on philosophic enquiries, and that his time was spent 
harmlessly entertaining by his homely conversation his ad- 
mirers, and that he did not interfere in State affairs. Little 
did they reckon how his time was really spent. He found 
American affairs worse than neglected by his predecessors 
at the European Courts. Lee and Deane and others had, 
through their want of diplomacy, estranged every court in 
Europe from their cause except France. To make the 
American cause respected was the work Franklin set 
himself to accomplish, and he succeeded in enlisting France, 
Spain and Holland actively with men and money and the 
two former by alliance on their side. He succeeded in keep- 
ing Frederic of Prussia neutral when the temptation was not 
wanting that he should be on the side of his old friends, the 
British, who befriended him in the Seven Years' War. The 
King of France, by the intrigues of Franklin's friend, Beau- 
marchais, and by the co-operation of De Vergennes, became 
an open friend of America. Even Queen Marie Antoinette, 
who so dearly loved the English, was converted to the 
American side, and Eussia was held in check and at most 
took a negative part in the war. To complete the triumph 
of his mission in February, 1778, just one year after his 



278 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

arrival in Paris, the Treaty sought for on his arrival was 
signed, which Treaty engaged France to commence an Alli- 
ance and Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United 
States. Soon a fleet was fitted out and sailed for America, 
and thus the soldiers of Washington got protection by sea 
and land, and the powers of England were divided, protect- 
ing their fleet at sea, their colonial coast in the West Indies, 
warding off the attacks of naval heroes like Jones and Barry 
and Hopkins around the British Isles as well as along the 
American seaboards. 

The amount of specie sent through Franklin's intervention 
by Louis and his government to aid the American cause has 
been computed at twenty-six million dollars. 

The help given to the American patriots by Thomas Paine 
was mainly of a literary character, and his glory is some- 
what dimmed by the part he played in the French Revolu- 
tion when he became a mocking, impious atheist. We must 
however remember that in the life of this versatile man 
there were two or three epochs or stages of development. 
There was the period in his career when he was a young 
excise officer in his native England, where he was dismissed 
from his situation on account of some writings in which he 
attacked the corruption of the excise and revenue system 
of that time. Perhaps Philip Snowden to-day would defend 
in his place the action of Paine in 1774. 

There is again the Thomas Paine who reached Phila- 
delphia in the year 1775 when the Halls of Congress rang 
with the news of the battle of Bunker's Hill. When gloom 
sat on every brow at the war that seemed inevitable, it was 
Paine who, in the presence of Franklin, Dr. Rush, John 
Adams and Washington, pronounced the word Independence 
in reply to Franklin's question: " What is to be the end 
of all this? Is it to obtain justice of Great Britain to 

change the ministry to soften a tax, or is it ? " and here 

his voice failed him to pronounce the word which this lightly- 
built, sharp-witted, delicate-looking young man uttered. 



Washington's contemporaries. 279 

Paine, introduced by Franklin to the delegates as an 
acquaintance whom he knew in England, thus addressed 
Congress : ** These States of America must be independent 
of England; that is the only solution of the question." 
Although the doctrine was new and the assertion bold and 
as many thought premature, yet, with patriotic fire in the 
cause of liberty, he proceeded in his speech to picture the 
glorious destiny which America freed from England should 
reach, and he conjured them to lend a hand to wrest the 
Western Continent from the absurd and unnatural position 
of being governed by a small island three thousand miles 
away. When Paine ended his speech Washington is said 
to have leaped forward, to have taken both his hands in his 
and besought him to publish those views in a book. The 
pamphlet " Common Sense " was the result, written in 
1775 and circulated over the thirteen States. This wonder- 
ful production acted like a clarion call to arms for all lovers 
of their country and was the means of arousing an enthu- 
siasm in the breasts of the colonists which led to the pro- 
clamation of Independence in July, 1776. Dr. Rush, a 
Celtic American patriot who signed the Declaration, said : 
" That the book burst forth from the press with an effect 
that has been rarely produced by types and paper in any 
age or country." " I never," says General Lee, " saw so 
martially irresistible a performance. It will, if I mistake 
not, in concurrence with the transcendent folly and wicked- 
ness of the ministry, give the coup de grace to Great 
Britain." 

Franklin had been editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine 
for many years, and as the Revolution required his time and 
energies in other directions he saw in Paine, although a 
penniless young man and (as far as our modern ideas about 
literary acquirements necessary for editorship) without a 
wide range of knowledge, a suitable substitute to edit the 
Revolution journal. 



280 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Whilst he was marching v/ith the famished army of 
Washington across The Jerseys in the autumn of 1776 he 
wrote some of those articles which he published in pamphlet 
form and which electrified the thirteen States. In the 
pamphlet called the " Crisis " he poured forth the fire of 
his soul in the cause of liberty, and he was one of the chief 
factors at the time in rousing the nation, enthusing and 
consolidating them to unite and throw off for ever the 
shackles of English rule. The pamphlets " Crisis " and 
" Common Sense " were the fruits of his literary labours, 
and they were an apt illustration of the axiom that * ' the 
pen is mightier than the sword." He gave to the nation 
the watchword in the darkest hour of the crisis, " Victory 
or death,'"* which acted on the army of Washington at Tren- 
ton like our war cry " Donnell Aboo " in the days of Ire- 
land's martial glory. 

The secret of Paine 's pen lay in his knowledge of human 
nature, his hitting right from his heart, with burning words 
which ran from camp to camp and State to State. He 
showed the nation how absurd it was to travel 3,000 or 4,000 
miles to petition a people deaf to their appeals for justice. 
He adds : " The time for debate is past. America must 
in the last resource decide the contest : a new era for your 
liberties is struck, a new method of thinking has arisen." 
When crossing The Jerseys he sent broadcast the following 
words: " These are the times that try men's souls. The 
summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis 
shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands 
it now deserves the best thanks of mankind. Tyranny," 
he adds, " like hell is not easily conquered, yet we have 
this consolation with us that the harder the conflict the 
more glorious the triumph." Trevelyan, after giving due 
praise to this scoffing infidel in the part his pen played in 
the war, writes : " It would be difficult to name any human 
composition which has had an eftect at once so instant and 
so extended and so lasting." Three months from its publi- 



Washington's contemporaries. 281 

cation 120,000 copies had been distributed. Even France 
and England bought it up largely, but although it had the 
largest sale in so short a time on record, it brought no profit 
to the author. Paine did not enrich himself by his American 
writings more than Washington as General or Franklin as 
Patriot-statesman and diplomat, each was prepared to risk 
all in the cause of his country. The strength and popularity 
of the writings of Paine were due to the fact that he wrote 
forcibly and what fitted the hour and the people, and he 
made his facts appeal to the head and heart of his readers. 
He wrote for plain men in desperate earnest and in great 
peril. 

His pamphlets received a chorus of universal approbation 
from the friends of America. Of their effects Washington 
said : ' * They are making a powerful change in the minds of 
many young men," and their power is proved equally well 
by what the narrow-minded partisan Governor Bernard said : 
" Every dip of the pen of Paine was like a horned snake." 
The pity is that, outside the action of this author in connec- 
tion with the American Eevolution, the Christian historian 
must speak of his life in his later years with bated breath. He 
left America and cast in his lot with the Atheist revolutionists 
of France, became a mocking cynic, and materialist, and 
a hater of authority and power. His rank in history is 
beside Voltaire and Eousseau, but many rungs beneath them 
in ability, though not in hate of Christianity. 

How well might the words be used in the pamphlets in 
defence of the American cause be applied to himself in later 
years: " The fool hath said in his heart there is no God." 
To show how the mighty Paine had fallen I will quote an 
extract from his atheistical works in Paris : 

" Ye infidels who meanly and hypocritically search for 
patronage under the shreds and tatters of the worn-out cloak 
of the Church or who quit the ranks of superstition only to 
waste your energies over an old Book, why believe in 
religion, that stronghold of all that is arbitrary, that refine- 



282 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

ment of cruelty, that last relic of absurdity? Why appeal 
to the most fallible of all guides, conscience? Principle is 
the scourge of the human race. It is the disguise in which 
the angel of darkness appears to deceive the very elect. 
Down with that barricade of hypocrisy, principle." Here 
we part with Paine, nor will we allow him further to blur 
our pages more than the American Congress which in the 
middle of the last century refused to allow a pedestal to his 
memory to be erected in the capital of their nation. 

When dealing with the assistance given by literary/ efforts 
to the armed forces in the field under Washington, we 
cannot omit the name of Thomas Jefferson, the author of 
the " Act of Declaration of Independence." In this able 
production Jefferson is said to have poured out the soul of 
America, and had he never penned another line this master- 
ful indictment of King George and his advisers would have 
enshrined his name amongst the immortals in the annals of 
the Eevolution. It is a powerful impeachment of Great 
Britain and leaves no loophole for any lover of his country 
no doubt about the course to pursue in the war. 
Nor were literary agents against the war confined to writers 
in the colonies. One of the King's soldiers in 1776 made 
bold to address George in language little short of treason- 
able. He compared the King to Solomon's wicked princes 
who oppress their subjects, adding: *' Have you not called 
your own prejudices the necessity of the State ? Have you 
chosen for your counsellors and ministers men of the greatest 
piety, courage and understanding? Have you not dreaded 
to have such around you because they would not flatter 
you and would oppose your unjust passions and your mis- 
chievous designs ? ' ' We might add : * ' Did you ever know 
a fool to choose wise counsel? 

Many of the English magazines, when the King was war 
mad, went straight against his policy of invasion in America. 
" The Empire," said the Gazette, " was under the direction 
of a bigoted King and a vindictive ruler whose administra- 



WASHINGTON'S CONTEMPORARIES, 283 

tion was odious and corrupt in every part, so that the 
struggle of a handful of his subjects, made furious by op- 
pression, had made known to the world the weakness of his 
empire." 

Some years previous to the war — in 1772 — the famous 
Junius wrote in a similar strain. " The action," says he, 
" of the King and his admirers (Lord Bute among the 
number) goaded the American colonies to resistance by pre- 
venting their petitions for redress from reaching the 
throne." 

The most potent aids Washington had in conquering the 
British army in the Eevolution were undoubtedly the tact- 
less obstinacy and persistent prejudice of George III. Had 
George, who like William of Germany when he dismissed 
Bismarck, his strong man, not pensioned Pitt after he 
became King there would have been no trouble with the 
American colonies. George was arbitrary and narrow in 
his vision and he got possessed of a monomania about the 
perversity and disloyalty of America. Trevelyan remarks 
" that George had Boston on the brain. In his eyes the 
capital of Massachusetts was a centre of vulgar sedition, 
bristling with ' Fires of Liberty ' and strewn with brick- 
bats and broken glass, where the King's enemies went about 
clothed in homespun and his friends in tar and feathers." 

Had King George applied to them rather Lord Macaulay's 
description of a liberty-loving Puritan of the John Knox type 
he would have been more accurate. " The Puritan is known 
from other men by his garb, his gait, his lank hair, the sour 
solemnity of his face, the up-turned white of his eyes, the 
nasal twang with which he spoke, and above all by his 
peculiar dialect. He employed on every occasion the 
imagery style of Scripture." Of such a type the major 
part of the New England army was composed. 

Washington was the best conceivable General to meet a 
rash King and an obstinate ministry. The only policy for 
an ill-equipped army and poor nation to pursue against a 



284 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

nation powerful in all that goes to make a martial and 
mighty nation and a King that was prepared to pawn his 
crown to keep the forces in the field until victory should 
be achieved and his rebel subjects should be under his heel, 
was a waiting, watchful policy. The patient, far-seeing and 
dogged tactics of the immortal Washington could not have 
met in an English King a better auxiliary than King George. 
How different might not have been the result with a Frederic 
of Prussia on the throne and a Wellington in command. 
With a George, a North, and a Howe guiding the British 
barque against America, Washington and his army were 
secure. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The American Navy in the Eevolution. 

Until the arrival of the French fleet in American waters, 
after the war was three years spent, perhaps the most 
powerful assistance rendered to the cause of freedom from 
any quarter short of the army itself came from the fleet, if 
the light craft that cruised in defence of American liberty 
could be designated a fleet. It has been computed that 
England during the first two years of the war had 26,000 
seamen employed at sea against America. The unequal 
contest commenced early in the summer of 1775, when 
Captain O'Brien was joined by thirty-five young athletic 
volunteers in a sloop schooner in Boston and gave chase to 
a British naval frigate named " Margaretta," which he 
captured after much slaughter on both sides. This sea 
battle was named the " Lexington of the sea." It was 
the first battle on water. Twenty on both sides were killed or 
wounded in the encounter. O'Brien soon afterwards cap- 
tured and made prisoners of all on board two other vessels 
in which much ammunition and provisions were stored. 
Soon after Washington took command at Boston he saw 



AMERICAN NAVY IN THE REVOLUTION. 285 

the necessity for a fleet to intercept stores reaching the 
army of Gage, and we find him on his own responsibility 
commissioning willing cruisers manned with volunteers to 
capture stores at the mouth of the St. Laurence and out- 
side Massachusetts Bay, the ports where supplies were 
landed from England for Carleton's and Gage's armies. 
About the month of November, 1775, we first have notice 
of Congress equipping out a vessel under Captain Manly 
to capture English boats. The "Nancy" was the first 
prize made by Manly. He obtained possession of stores, 
several brass guns, firearms and a large mortar, which were 
duly sent to the army under Washington. It was on 
December 22, 1775, that the first regular fleet on the side 
of Congress put to sea. Its first Commodore or Admiral 
was Ezekiel Hopkins. His first name points out his New 
England origin, his second marks him as of Irish origin. Of 
this fleet of eight or nine sails, the famous Commodore 
Barry was in subordinate command, as Captain Barry's 
vessel named " Lexington " is said to be the first vessel 
that got out to sea under the aegis of Congress. Lord Dun- 
more was devastating the country and coast of Virginia and 
the fleet made her first cruise along the Virginia and North 
Carolina coast early in 1776. Hopkins was a brave Ad- 
miral, but owing to want of care in cruising his small barques 
too near the English fleet he was censured and dismissed 
from his command. Barry, in the years '76 and '77, made 
some important captures, including that of the English 
warship " Edward," in which engagement he displayed great 
valour and cut the enemy's crew to pieces in the fierce 
encounter. 

Paul Jones early in the Eevolution joined the American 
navy, distinguished himself in the year 1776 under Com- 
modore Hopkins as lieutenant, and was instrumental in cap- 
turing many merchant vessels at Newport, Long Island 
and New York. In these successful actions with the enemy 
Jones displayed great bravery and stratagem against a 



286 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

superior fleet, and his hair-breadth escapes were marvellous. 
He was early congratulated by Congress for his victories 
and marked out for more important command in the near 
future. 

The American cruisers manned by Jones and Barry and 
other daring American seamen were the terror of the trading 
vessels plying from English ports. The " Eeprisal " and 
" Lexington" are two amongst many cruisers in English and 
American waters that terrified the traders in English bottoms, 
raised the insurance twenty per cent., and before the French 
entered into Alliance with America, gave employment to a 
vast number of French trading bottoms (French boats being 
neutrals were safe from the American fleet) at high tariff 
for carriage. Captains Jones and Cunningham cruised 

around the English, Scotch and Irish coasts for almost 
twenty months and struck terror into the people along the 
coast as they sailed around, and so bold were they that 
they called in English and Irish ports to ship provisions, 
pay bills on Spanish and French agents, and have their 
cruisers refitted and repaired when necessary. It is com- 
puted that the infant fleet of America in the year 1776 
captured as many as 342 English vessels, only 60 of which 
were recaptured. The New England States alone, chiefly 
under the directions of their respective States, are said to 
have, during the years '76 and '77, fitted out 100 privateers. 

Although the embryo fleet of America did wonders under 
such adverse circumstances, still it is not to be wondered at 
that before the arrival of the French fleet, except in a fitful 
and piratical capacity, the American navy was almost non- 
existent. It served its purpose well, and it cannot be 
doubted that a vast number of the colonists, had they been 
equipped, trained and disciplined, would have made even 
a better resistance on sea than on land. These men and 
their fathers and kinsfolk came of a daring race who braved 
the dangers of the sea in search of a free country and 
liberty. Pirates were numerous in those days, nay, many 




JOHN PALI. J0M:S. 



AMERICAN NAVY IN THE REVOLUTION. 287 

along the seaboard, for 500 miles, from Maine to Georgia, 
were smugglers to evade the Navigation Laws of the Mother- 
land. Thousands of the colonists lived by dragging the sea 
for cod and herring, seals and whales. Shipping was the 
chief means of transit on the seaboard or along th- rivers, 
where the hardy colonists mainly had taken up their c*,bodes. 
Hence we need not be surprised that those brave men 
literally swarmed along the coasts when the evening sun was 
setting, prepared like the daring race from which they had 
sprung to pounce upon the incoming merchant vessels of 
the enemy and thus supply the sinews of war to Washington 
from their captures, and most likely they were not unmind- 
ful of their wives and families at home when it came to 
distribution of the spoils. 

The name of Paul Jones is well-nigh as famous to the 
student of naval battles as is that of Nelson, and perhaps 
the gallantry of the American Captain was equal to that of 
the hero of the Nile. The results were unequal, and they 
were unequal as far as the stakes that were laid and the 
numbers engaged. Nelson, by his victory, proved to the 
world that England v/as mistress of the sea, and mistress 
she has remained for over a hundred years. Jones had not 
a fleet in the real sense of the word at his back and under 
his command. The capture of the " Alliance," " Pallas 
and " Vengeance " by the " Richard " was only a partial 
engagement, in which only 135 navymen were employed, 
and these, although commissioned by Franklin, commanded 
by Jones, and engaged to fight under the " Stars and 
Stripes," were more after the Hessian type of mercenaries. 
They were soldiers of fortune taken from a dozen nationali- 
ties, recruited in France. Yet owing to the superhuman 
exertions under the most adverse circumstances of Jones 
and his crew, the victory of the "Richard," " Homme," 
and the capture of the enemy when his own boat was sink- 
ing has raised Jones to a pinnacle of fame among sea heroes 
that a hundred years have only intensified. Jones was 



288 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

born in Scotland in 1747 and died in 1792 in France. After 
he had given up his service in the American fleet he settled 
in France. In 1787 he was appointed Admiral in the Eus- 
sian navy against the Turks. America felt kindly towards 
him until his death, and to-day no name is more honoured 
after Washington than that of Paul Jones. He was a re- 
markable man, fearless in danger, bold in enterprise and con- 
ception, and invincible in his resolve to conquer or die. 
He was, as were many heroes, famed in history, of low 
stature, an enthusiast in his profession with strong con- 
victions. Personally he was disposed to vanity, a worship- 
per of heroes and possessed of good literary taste. He was 
ambitious of renown, covetous of distinction, although dis- 
interested in action. His courage, naval knowledge and 
enterprise would have made him first in any command in 
which he was placed. His motto in life was '' death or 



success." 



CHAPTER XXX. 

The Irish in the Ke volution. 

It has been a subject of remark how meagre are the refer- 
ences to Ireland's share in the war to be found in the 
general Histories of the Kevolution. It was not the aim of 
the historians of that stupendous event to record what part 
the difterent nationalities took in severing the colonies from 
the motherland, or how many sons from European nations 
fought under the banner of the immortal Washington. That 
Washington's and Franklin's and Adams' forefathers were 
of English extraction, that Jefferson was half a Celt and 
half a W^elshman, that Montgomery, Morgan, Knox and 
Sullivan were of Irish origin, or that Lafayette, Steuben, 
De Kalb, De Grasse, Kosciusko and Eochambeau came 
from European nations was foreign to the aim of most his- 
torians of this momentous Eevolution. To portion out into 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 289 

categories corresponding to their importance the aid given 
by foreign nationalities in gaining American Independence 
was foreign to all true ideals of American unity. To build 
up, to fuse and unite the scattered races and hitherto 
isolated colonies was more the work of patriotic historians 
than to widen the breach and make more difficult the task 
of consolidating many races and peoples and sects and har- 
monizing them with federal government under the Con- 
stitution. 

Now, however removed as we are by almost one 
hundred and forty years from the time when this war for 
liberty commenced in Boston in the spring of 1775, we can 
with an impartial mind and with the sympathetic hearts of 
Irishmen recall with a glow of legitimate pride the important 
part our exiled countrymen played in the severance of the 
Thirteen States from Britain and in opening wide the gates 
of the Western continent to millions of our race, so that 
to-day we speak of the divided, scattered Gael and point 
with pride to America as the " Greater Ireland beyond the 
sea," 

Why, it may be asked, did the Irish to a man fight against 
England in the American Eevolution? Why were the 
Irish first in the field and among the last to lay dow^n their 
arms? Why so revengeful against the motherland and so 
enthusiastic and brave to the highest degree in the cause of 
their adopted country? Why did the sons of those who at 
home were opposed to religious and political liberty to their 
Catholic countrymen embrace their exiled brothers in the 
American ranks and join them with heart and hand to assist 
Washington to sever the colonies from British control ? This 
question requires an answer, considering the fact that to-day 
every creed and class, rank and condition of Irishmen at 
home are loud in their protestations of allegiance to the 
British Crown. Nay, Irishmen of every denomination exiled 
over the world have the same kindly, friendly feeling to 
John Bull that we have- Grattan perhaps gives the best 

T 



290 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

answer to the above queries when he said in one of his 
memorable speeches : ' ' What you crush and oppress in 
Europe will sting you in America." To Ihe Irishman 
wherever he roams, no matter in what clime he resides, the 
memory of the dear old land at home haunts him still and 
the family tradition is faithfully preserved by our exiles. 
Now most of our forefathers when they left home and 
country in the ages long past, to dare the dangers of the 
brin}^ ocean for three and sometimes six long months in 
frail sailing barques, a prey to the storms and tempests of 
the deep, to scurvy and disease and hard fare and hunger, 
were not out for amusement. No, they left Ireland because 
Ireland held out no hopes of happiness or prosperity, because 
there were cruel wrongs inflicted on them, because they 
loved liberty and hated oppression. England was the con- 
scious or unconscious oppressor of all creeds and classes in 
Ireland during the first three-quarters of the eighteenth 
century, and to the Presbyterians cruel, harsh, unjust treat- 
ment from England was more than those liberty-loving Irish- 
men could bear and was certainly undeserved. The fact 
remains indelibly written in history that the Irish to a man 
were on the side of America, and as there is no effect with- 
out a corresponding cause, let us try in a few sentences to 
state the cause. 

When the Crown was placed on the brow of William 
firmly and securely as King of England and Ireland, and 
when the Treaty of Limerick was signed and broken, the 
Protestant part of Ireland was supreme and held sway over 
the Island. The Catholics were soon made to feel that they 
were a conquered race, and all that was noble and brave of 
the race followed the Wild Geese and Sarsfield to France 
and other continental countries. Those that remained at 
home had neither freedom nor power. Though they were 
four-fifths of the population, they had only one-seventh of 
the land and this they held without much security. Their 
religion was banned and all political freedom was denied 



THE IRISH IN THE RBYOLUTION. 291 

them. They did not count in the social or political affairs 
of th© country. However, being numerous, they rendered 
the minority uncomfortable and somewhat fearful. Hence 
the Irish Parliament, which was entirely Protestant, kept 
its eyes fixed on England for support and protection. 

And this same Parliament commenced to enact most 
cruel laws to crush and root out the old Celtic race. But 
the more they penalized them, the more numerous they 
grew, and the Irish Protestants soon found that they had 
nothing to fear from those down-trodden serfs. But did 
England treat these Protestants of Ireland fairly and justly? 
No ! From 1692 till the middle of the eighteenth century she 
began a course of commercial enactments that crushed the 
Protestants of Ireland, brought about their banishment and 
made them emigrate in a continuous stream for seventy 
years to the American colonies. England thought that a 
rival like Ireland in trade and commerce at her door would 
injure her prosperity. England had power to regulate the 
trade and commerce of her dependent States. She could 
cripple the industries of her colonies and make them bend 
to her legislative will. The American colonies were far 
removed from the motherland, and the power of England 
was not so keenly felt. Scotland was a united and patriotic 
country, and England felt it to her advantage to grant 
generous concessions at the Union of Parliaments to Scot- 
land. So that in trade and commerce she has advanced and 
flourished under the legislative union with England. But 
Ireland was differently situated. She was more dependent 
on England, because of her own disunion. The Irish forces 
were divided, Protestant and Presbyterian against Catholic, 
and Protestant and Presbyterian against each other. This 
state of affairs England did not discourage. She encouraged 
the persecution of the Catholics, and again the subjugation 
of the Dissenter by the Protestant, though the latter were 
only one-tenth of the nation. They were the Established 
Church, and they were the power in Ireland behind the 



292 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

throne. Nay, the feeling got abroad from the days of 
Charles I. — who left a letter on record in reply to his wife 
Henrietta urging him to throw in his lot with the Presby- 
terians — that Presbyterians were never loyal to monarchy, 
their system of Church government forcing them towards 
the goal of Eepublicanism. Hence Presbyterians \were 
thwarted and suspected and penalized, though in a minor 
degree, like the detested Papists, and this was a policy 
backed up and approved by the ministers of Anne and the 
Georges. But the Irish loaves and fishes were not for- 
gotten by England. She drew rich salaries from Ireland. 
She pensioned her favourites and libertines off the public 
revenues. She drew exorbitant head rents, quit rent and 
royalties from the country. She made sinecure offices. She 
filled the Church with English bishops and the Irish ad- 
ministration with English officials. She, by the privileges 
she possessed and the patronage she held, controlled both 
Houses of Parliament in Dublin, and by their co-operation 
she not alone crushed the majority of the nation, but she 
crushed the Dissenters, monopolized the trade and com- 
merce of the Irish people and finally drove trade out of the 
country and brought about the stagnation of the staple in- 
dustries of Ireland. Absentee landlordism drained the 
country, absentee ministers of State and absentee Church- 
men fattening on fat livings left Ireland bankrupt. So 
that from 1703 till 1773 hundreds of thousands of Northern 
Irish emigrated to America, and a greater number of Irish, 
North and South, sought homes in European lands to swell 
the arms of England's enemies and to build up flourishing 
trade in woollen and linen factories in France and the 
Netherlands as well as in the New England States. This 
treatment had brought things to such a pass that Sir Horace 
Walpole was able to say in 1776 that Presbyterians were 
the worst subjects of the Kingdom, and that even the 
Roman Catholics were more loyal than they. The call for 
liberty of their kinsmen in America, who had gone away 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 293 

with hate in their hearts, made itself heard on the shores 
of the motherland. 

No wonder these exiles were panting for the day to strike 
a blow at the oppressors of the race. 

That Irishmen took a leading part in this great Kevolu- 
tion the most ample historical evidence is forthcoming. Mr. 
Belcher, a London chaplain to the British army, has re- 
cently written a book of much authority on the composition 
of the Patriot army in the Revolution, and of the Irish he 
says: " Tliere were Irishmen in considerable numbers. Men 
of Ulster Black Protestants, whom every tie of sentiment 
and religion had bound to the English Crown, but whom the 
folly and wrong-headed conception of the English capitalists 
had by enactments in restraint of Irish trade driven into 
exile. Those were amongst the most bitter and strenuous 
enemies of Great Britain and were for the most part Pres- 
byterians." Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, a grand nephew of 
Robert Emmet, the Irish martyr, in an address to the Ame- 
rican Irish Historical Society in January, 1899, in his re- 
miniscences of the Irish in the Revolution, said that Joseph 
Galloway, a native of Maryland and resident of Pennsyl- 
vania prior to the war, was probably, with the exception of 
Benjamin Franklin, without an equal as to general know- 
ledge on the condition of affairs in the country. He was 
an able lawyer, an eloquent speaker and a powerful advo- 
cate on behalf of America prior to the Declaration of In- 
dependence. After the Declaration he turned his back 
on his countrymen and sided with the Loyal minority. On 
a visit to England in 1779 he was examined by an investigat- 
ing committee of the House of Commons and his evidence 
there given has often been quoted and published as the 
most reliable bearing on the subject of the war. When 
asked as to the composition of the rebel army his answer 
was : " I can assert the question with precision there were 
scarcely one-fourth native Americans, about one-half were 
Irish, the other fourth were EngHsh and Scotch." '* He 



294 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

might," says Emmet, " have stated more in detail that 
one-fourth were composed of sons of England, very few 
Scotch, and more Germans and Dutch, as they were called, 
from Pennsylvania and the Valley of Virginia. I have," 
added Emmet, ** computed that about one-fourth of all the 
American officers, and even a larger proportion of those men 
more trusted by Washington, were Irish by birth or 
descent." 

William James McNevin, in the introduction to a book on 
Irish history, published in New York early in the last cen- 
tury, says that there were 16,000 Irish Catholics fighting 
under Washington in the war for Independence. The his- 
torian Lecky, in his " History of Ireland," says: " Pres- 
byterians were openly on the side of America, and the 
example of their kinsfolk in the colonies was kindling strong 
sentiments of nationality at home, and it was thought by 
many that Ireland, which was the chief dependency of the 
Crown, would follow the example of the revolted colonies. 
The Government," adds Lecky, " had every reason to 
strengthen its alliance with the majority of the nation which 
by the way up till this time had neither political nor religious 
freedom or power, and had not caught the contagion in 
the cause of American Independence at first so strongly as 
the Dissenters, because their principles inclined them to 
lean towards authority. Catholic Ireland became enthu- 
siastic and unanimous with their Northern Presbyterian 
countrymen in the cause of America, when, in 1778-79, both 
France and Spain allied themselves with the Americans." 
Horace Walpole, in his " Last Journal," says : " That at the 
time the Erench and Spanish and American fleets were 
hovering around the English and Irish coast after the French 
Alliance, if the French should chance to land in the South 
of Ireland, it was his belief that every man around that 
coast would join them, and if an American fleet should land 
in the North they would gladly be received by the Pres- 
byterians." 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 295 

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in his address to the 
Lords and Commons of the Irish Parliament in October, 
1775, demanded a levy of Irish corps to serve under General 
Gage at Boston, and this was the first time that Irish 
Catholics were publicly looked upon as eligible to serve as 
common soldiers in the British army since the Eevolution 
under William. Of course Catholics were in the ranks prior 
to this, as we know that many of that ignored faith served 
under Wolfe in the days of Chatham's wars in America. As 
a body Catholics refused to serve against America, although 
a few Catholic gentry were amongst the first to exert 
themselves to raise recruits and subscribe for the support of 
the corps for America. We find Lord Kenmare prominent 
then as now in professions of loyal attachment to the Crown. 
Kenmare and the few Catholic Peers who were permitted to 
hold their estates, repaid their masters by their obsequious- 
ness, and in return we find that some of these gentry had 
the privilege of advancing rectors of the Established Church 
to livings. Lord Clanrickarde was another Peer who came 
to the front as a recruiting agent for the war party in Eng- 
land, and promised to send forth from his tenants and 
dependants in Galway 1,000 equipped men who would wade 
knee deep in their own blood in defence of King George. 
Scotland, as well as the North of Ireland, was a poor field 
at this time to raise recruits, as the Highlands as well as 
Ulster were suspected of disloyalty. The corps mainly 
made up of Southern Catholics shipped at Cork, had to 
be coerced on board, some of them even tied and bound and 
of course prepared to desert on the first favourable oppor- 
tunity. 

Arthur Lee, in a letter to Washington in 1779, wrote : 
" The Irish Catholics have markedly shown their unwilling- 
ness to enlist for the American war, and every man of a 
regiment raised there last year was obliged to ship tied and 
bound, and most certainly the Irish Catholic will desert more 
than any troops whatever." In 1779 some 1,500 troops 



296 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

drafted from the South of Ireland in the manner noted by 
Lee and led by that great Irishman, though cruel General, 
Lord Eawdon, afterwards the great Earl of Moira, landed 
in America, and many of them on the first opportunity 
joined the rebel ranks. Bancroft, the historian, says that 
Eawdon issued an order to the effect that anyone who should 
bring in the head of a deserter from the volunteers from 
Ireland should receive ten guineas, whilst five guineas was 
the reward for a living deserter. 

The Honourable Luke Gardiner, in a debate in the Irish 
Parliament on Irish Commerce, asserted that America was 
lost by the Irish (an assertion that Pitt reiterated in his place 
in Parliament, adding that Ireland was with America to a 
man). " These emigrants," Gardiner added, " are fresh 
in your recollection. I am," he says, " assured from the 
best authority that the major part of the American army 
was composed of Irish, and that the Irish language was 
more commonly spoken in the American army than English. 
I am also informed that it was their valour determined the 
contest, so that England had America detached from her 
by force of Irish emigrants." (This was said six months 
after the Treaty of Peace was signed at Paris by England, 
America and her French and Spanish allies). That our 
kinsmen were fighting for Ireland in aiding in the Revolu- 
tion is clear from what Bancroft says, viz. : " The success 
of America brought Emancipation to Ireland, which had 
suffered more than the States from colonial monopoly." 

The American Congress in 1775, recognizing the similarity 
of Irish and American grievances against England, and 
knowing the sympathy that Irishmen had in their cause, 
addressed the Irish Parliament and people to enlist their 
support in the cause of the colonies fighting for liberty ; and 
that great American statesman and diplomatist, Franklin, 
not alone on his own account and over his own name, in 
1778, addressed an appeal for aid in men and money to carry 
on the war, but we find him visiting Dublin and appearing 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 297 

in the Irish Commons. In this address Franklin pointed 
out the close connection between Irish and American in- 
terests. This address from so distinguished a man was, as 
might be expected, widely circulated. Franklin's opinion, 
which he gave expression to in America, was that Ireland 
would make common cause with their nation and engage 
England at home at the same time to gain complete Eman- 
cipation from English influence in their affairs. We may 
add here that Franklin retained a lively and kind feeling ever 
after in regard to the friendly spirit in which he was re- 
ceived among the Irish Commons. He was high in praise 
of their orators and their men of business, and he loudly 
applauded their patriotic party led by Grattan. That 
Franklin was right as well as Bancroft in holding the view 
that Ireland's interests and Ireland's grievances were similar 
to those of America was witnessed by Grattan, when from 
his place in the Irish Commons he said : " Ireland is strong. 
She has acquired that strength by the weakness of Britain, 
for Ireland was saved when America was lost." 

Grattan of course was in opposition to the Irish Parlia- 
ment, and when that corrupt assembly voted 4,000 men and 
a hundred thousand pounds to carrj^ on the war against 
America, Grattan styled these corps as " armed negotiators 
sent over from Ireland to butcher their American friends 
fighting in the cause of liberty." Edmund Burke, the great 
Irish statesman and orator drew up a petition on behalf of 
the people of Bristol, for which constituency he was M.P., 
calling on the ministry to discontinue their armed resistance 
to American demands, i.e., taxing them without their con- 
sent. In this address our great countryman approves of 
the armed resistance of the American colonies against Eng- 
land. Addresses supporting the American cause were also 
sent to Lord North's Cabinet from Dublin, Belfast and 
Waterford, and money in considerable quantities was sent 
from Belfast and other centres in Ireland to feed and equip 
the armies in America fighting under Washington. In 



298 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Belfast public meetings were held approving of the Eevolu- 
tion. It is worthy of note and one may see a repetition of 
history at present in our local political strife that in the 
first stages of the American war the colonists made a marked 
distinction between the Crown and the Government in 
power. They attempted to reconcile allegiance with resist- 
ance, but they soon found that there was no halfway house 
between resistance and a Declaration of Complete Indepen- 
dence. That there was no divided opinion amongst Irish- 
men in America during the war is testified by Cynus 
Edmund, who wrote a biography of Washington: " Every 
able-bodied man," says he, " among the emigrants from 
Ulster after the Battle of Bunker Hill entered the army of 
the patriots, and from their continuous service and discipline 
became the mainstay of the organization until the end of 
the war." 

When Washington was in winter quarters in Morristown 
in 1780 his fortunes at their lowest ebb and his forces re- 
duced to a handful, we have it on record how jubilant they 
were on the celebration of the Feast of St. Patrick, Ireland's 
National Apostle, and how with the permission of the 
General a holiday was granted the army and all military 
routine suspended to allow universal rejoicing among the 
troops. 

Washington, addressing the officers on the occasion, 
spoke as follows: " That on account of the universal senti- 
ments of veneration for St. Patrick among the people of 
Ireland, the 17th of March was to be kept as a holiday and 
no military work allowed, and that rum should be distri- 
buted among the troops to add to their jubilation." Ac- 
cordingly a hogshead was brought into camp and the Com- 
mander adds : That whilst the troops are celebrating the 
festival of Saint Patrick in innocent mirth and pastime, he 
hopes they will not be unmindful of their friends in the 
Kingdom of Ireland, who, with the greatest unanimity have 
stepped into opposition to the tyrant of Great Britain, and 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 299 

who " like us are determined to die or be free." The 
troops he hoped would conduct themselves with propriety 
and good order. On the 20th June of the same year above 
referred to, and at a time when the American army was still 
in their tents for want of clothing, ammunition and money, 
twenty-seven members of the Society of the Friendly Sons 
of St. Patrick signed a paper setting forth the necessity for 
a vigorous campaign and management of the war, recording 
that they were deeply impressed with the sentiments that 
should govern them all in the prosecution of the war, on 
the results of which ' ' our freedom and that of our posterity 
and the freedom and independence of the United States are 
involved, hereby severally pledge our property and credit 
for the several sums specified and mentioned after our names 
in order to support the credit of the bank to be established 
for furnishing a supply of provisions and necessaries for the 
army of the United States." 

Thomas Fitzsimmons, born in Ireland in 1741, emigrated 
to America in youth, and when the war broke out he was 
recognized as one of the most wealthy merchants in Phila- 
delphia. During the Eevolution he took a prominent part 
in the political life of his adopted State, Pennsylvania. He 
was a Congressman prior to the war, a delegate to the first 
Congressional Convention, and later in 1787 a delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention, and continued to take a public 
part in the affairs of the new Eepublic as Representative 
from 1789 to 1795. " He was," says the biographer, " a 
man of lofty and liberal principles, superior ability and 
high moral worth. He aided the arms of Washington on 
many occasions by his wealth and he subscribed in the 1780 
crisis £5,000 towards the Morris Bank. His wife was a 
sister of that other Irishman, Robert Meade, a generous 
subscriber to the army, Irish and Catholic, and grandparent 
of General Gordon Meade, of the American army." 

In connection with the financial crisis we cannot omit 
mention of the O'Carrolls, of Carrollstown, Maryland, 



300 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

famed for their fervent Catholicism and their deep attach- 
ment to the cause of American freedom. When Charles 
Carroll subscribed his name in 1776 to the Declaration of 
Independence in Philadelphia, Franklin was by his side and 
was heard to whisper as this wealthy Irishman lifted his 
pen, " There goes a cool million." 

The name of Carroll was a power in the States, and if the 
Catholics had need of any influence to rally them in the cause, 
the name of the future Bishop of Baltimore and first Bishop 
of the United States was a sufficient guarantee that their 
interests would be safe under the American flag. The Eev. 
Carroll was of Irish parents, educated in France, and a 
great personal friend, not alone of Franklin, but of Washing- 
ton. The Honourable Mr. Curtis, nephew of Washington, 
bears testimony to the high esteem in which his uncle held 
him. " Bishop Carroll," he says, " from his exalted work 
as a minister of God, his stainless life, and above all his 
distinguished services as a patriot of the Revolution, stood 
high, very high in the esteem and affection of Pater 
Patriae." 

Toleration was not so much a characteristic of the Ameri- 
cans prior to the war, as love of civil liberty and hate of 
interference in their domestic affairs, as the following record 
of a visitation made by Bishop Carroll to Boston in the 
year 1790 is proof: " It is wonderful to tell," says he, 
" what great civilities have been done me in this town where 
a few years ago a Papist priest was thought to be the grossest 
monster in creation. Many here even of the principal 
people have acknowledged to me that they would have 
crossed the street rather than meet a Roman Catholic some 
time ago. The horror which was associated with the Papist 
is incredible, and the scandalous misrepresentations by 
their ministers increased the horror every Sunday." 

The exclusive spirit in religious matters so characteristic 
of the Puritans was fast dying when the war broke out, and 
at the end of the war, thanks to the aid of France and Spain, 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 301 

thanks to the whole-hearted aid in the cause of Irish Catho- 
lics and thanks chiefly to Washington, this noticeable 
change was brought about mainly during the Revolution. 

It is true that in the years preceding the American Re- 
volution Catholic emigrants were fewer to the British- 
American colonies than other denominations. This is ac- 
counted for by the disabilities, both civil and religious, by 
which Catholics were banned in territories subject to the 
British Crown. England breathed nothing but persecution 
of Catholics at home and in her colonies during the seven- 
teenth and eighteenth centuries. Still many Irish Catholics 
selected the lesser of two evils and emigrated to the States, 
but more of our Catholic fellow-countrymen followed in the 
footsteps of the Wild Geese and helped to swell the Irish 
Brigade, which took its origin in France after the Treaty 
of Limerick in 1691, when 20,000 Irishmen emigrated from 
Ireland to France to oppose the arms of England on every 
foreign field in which her armies entered from Dunkirk to 
Belgrade. Historians have computed that between 1692 
and 1792, when the Irish Brigade was disbanded, over 
500,000 Irish soldiers died in the service of France. Still 
many emigrated to America, and when the Revolution broke 
out Irish Catholics were to be found in every division of 
Washington's army, and amongst the most daring were those 
scattered contingents of frontier men called the Greenmoun- 
tainmen led by Pickens and Marion, both Irish. They swooped 
down in sudden lightning attacks on the flanks and rear- 
guards of the British troops and like wolves in tEe fold 
carried dismay and destruction into the enemy's rank and 
before they were recognized were back to their mountain 
fastnesses. These men were mainly Irish and Catholic, 
who passing beyond the boundaries of the original organized 
States became the pioneers of the West and the back- 
woodsmen of the forest wilds of the Western continent. The 
Irish Catholics like the Irish Dissenters instinctively arrayed 
themselves in hostility to the British power, not alone from 



302 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

their innate love of liberty, but from their yivid remem- 
brance of present and past misgovernment and persecution 
at home, and hence we find Catholics and Dissenters to a 
man fighting side by side with all the valour of their race 
from the beginning to the end of the war for Independence. 
In those days there was no such title for those who 
hailed from the Emerald Isle as Scotch-Irish, all were 
proud of the name of Irishmen, no matter whether they 
hailed from North or South of the Boyne, and Dissenter 
and Catholic were not ashamed to join the Society known 
as the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. This society founded 
in 1774 embraced in its ranks prominent Irishmen, either by 
birth or descent. Its first president was William West, and 
its president from 1776 to 1779 was the famous Benjamin 
Fuller. Amongst its members were the following at this 
period, names that acted an indispensable part in the Revolu- 
tion : — Eobert Morris, the eminent patriot and financier; 
John Dickenson, the distinguished author of " The Farmers' 
Letters "; General John Calderwell, of the Revolutionary 
Army; Governor Richard Penn, William Bingham, United 
States Senator for Pennsylvania ; William Hamilton, of the 
Woodlands, one of the largest proprietors in Pennsylvania 
at the time of the Revolution; Judge Richard Peters, 
Captain John Barry, Commodore, Father of the American 
Navy; Thomas Fitzsimmons, Congressman; Generals Hand, 
Knox, Irvine Knox, Thompson, Wayne, and Walter 
Steward; Colonel Moylan, afteward General; Colonels John 
Patton, Francis Nichol, Francis Johnston, Calderwell, Lam- 
bert and Richard Bache. The above names figure in some 
of the highest positions in Army and Senate, and all of them 
are honoured and revered over the States to-day, nor do we 
exhaust in above list our distinguished countrymen at this 
time. The Carrolls, the Sullivans, Montgomerys, Lynchs, 
Meades, Stack, and a host of others are not accounted for in 
this list which seems to be made up of those mainly in 
and around Philadelphia. 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 303 

The name Scotch-Irish is commonly applied to men of 
Ulster descent in the States to-day. How this name got 
fixed on any part of our countrymen in America is not 
easy to determine. However the fact remains that instead 
of Friendl}^ Sons of St. Patrick, some of these grandsons 
of old Revolution warriors, pride in the name Scotch-Irish, 
and such historians as Bancroft and lecturers like Whitlaw 
Reid, late American Ambassador to London, dubs them as 
such. The name is of modern origin and its assumption, 
conscious or unconscious, is not creditable to our friends 
who claim the title. It has an unpleasant ring about it, 
and I doubt not is distasteful to XJlstermen in the States. 
The name is never heard as a designation for Ulster Pro- 
testants in Canada. That most of the Presbyterians of 
Ulster are of Scotch origin is true. They were planted in 
the reigns of James I. and Charles I., and after the Cromwel- 
lian and the Williamite wars. But why should a man call him- 
self Scotch-Irish because his great-great grandparents hap- 
pened to be transplanted from Scotia generations ago. A 
very proper comment on the term is given in Maguire's 
*' Irish in America." A perplexed Yankee is represented as 
addressing one of those Scotch-Irishmen. " What do you 
mean, Mr. McFarlane, by dubbing yourself as a Scotch- 
Irishman? Why should you set yourself up as not being 
an Irishman? or an American. You were born in Ireland; 
I was born in America. I am an American. You were born 
in Ireland. You are an Irishman. Why pretend you ain't 
Irish? I may prefer an American Protestant to an Irish 
Catholic, hut though a man's religion is nothing to me, it's 
his own aSair, yet I like a man who stands up for his native 
land, whatever he is in religion or politics. I don't like a 
hound who denies the country that gave him birth; it isn't 
natural." 

In the school histories on the American Revolution 
Patrick Henry ig the only prominent Patrick that figures 
amongst the notable characters on the American side, but 



304 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

it has been computed from old records of names composing 
the different corps in the war that some 250 Irishmen bear- 
ing the Christian name Patrick fought in the rebel ranks. 
Patrick Henry was a Virginian, born of Irish extraction; he 
studied law and was one of the foremost orators of his own 
or any generation. He led a regiment in Virginia early in 
the Eevolution against the Loyalist party who ravaged the 
State under Governor Lord Dunmore. He was a strenuous 
advocate of the war from the first. It was he that gave 
the watchword inscribed on many a banner in the war. In 
one of his brilliant outbursts of oratory he wound up a 
speech of irresistible power with these words : " Give me 
liberty or give me death." Coming down to a more detailed 
account of the Irish heroes who prominently figured in the 
Eevolution, let us select a number of the most prominent 
who contributed by their valour to separate the United 
States from British rule. One of the most daring and far- 
reaching feats of valour was performed by Jeremiah O'Brien, 
son of Maurice O'Brien, of Cork, who, with his six sons, 
emigrated to America early in the eighteenth century and 
settled on the sea coast of Maine. It was Jeremiah O'Brien, 
accompanied by his five brothers and a little band of brave 
seafaring men who captured the first English warship in 
the Eevolution. The O'Briens came of a daring martial 
stock. Old Maurice was with Wolfe in the last colonial 
war at the taking of Quebec, and his sons proved them- 
selves true naval heroes. Before Congress acquired a fleet, 
the O'Briens, in an old fishing vessel with one small gun 
and twenty volunteers, put out to sea and near their coast 
attacked a British warship carrying twenty guns and a great 
quantity of stores. He came alongside this vessel named 
the " Margarita," and in a hand to hand encounter boarded 
her and captured or slaughtered the entire crew of over fifty 
able-bodied men and safely brought her into Machia's Bay, 
a port in Maine. This was called the Lexington of the sea. 
This was the first but by no means the last successful en- 



THE IRISH IN THli REVOLUTION. S05 

counter Jeremiah O'Brien had with the British fleet in 
American waters. He was raised to the rank of Captain by 
Congress, and had two vessels, the " Margarita " and 

Diligence," which he captured, placed under his com- 
mand. iVfter a year and a half's cruising around in pursuit 
of British vessels, and having strengthened the forces of 
Washington materially by his captures, he was made 
prisoner and shipped off to England. He made his escape 
after some time to America, where he died in 1818. He was a 
pioneer of the sea before either Paul Jones or our distin- 
guished countrymen Commodores Barry and Hopkins had 
become famous as naval heroes. General John Sullivan 
was another distinguished son of an Irish father who made 
history in the Kevolution. Sullivan was born in the State of 
Maine in 1740. His father taught school for fifty years after 
landing in America early in the eighteenth century. The 
Sullivans came from the County Kerry and originally occu- 
pied the Castle of Ardea on the Kenmare river. Their pro- 
perty fell into the hands of the Lansdowne family after the 
Cromwellian wars. The Sullivans for their loyalty to Ire- 
land suffered banishment from their ancient castle and lost 
their estate. 

General John Sullivan was a learned lawyer, a skilled 
orator; he wielded a facile pen, and as a General he was in 
the first rank under Washington. At the first Congress in 
Philadelphia he was appointed one of the eight Generals in 
the Patriot army. He, too, like O'Brien, was early in the 
field in opposition to English rule. He struck the first blow 
by a raid he made along with John Langdon and a brave 
band of picked men on Forts William and Mary at Ports- 
mouth. In this encounter he succeeded in seizing some 
cannon and ammunition, a most necessary asset to the army 
at the beginning of the Eevolution. In 1775 he was ap- 
pointed to lead to Canada a considerable force to act con- 
jointly with Montgomery w^ho had preceded him, but his 
assistance came after poor Montgomery had laid his bones to 



306 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

rest on the snow-clad heights of Quebec and his army had 
retreated across the St. Lawrence. At the battle of Brook- 
lyn Sullivan was high in command, and when the day was 
practically lost and he and his forces stood exposed between 
the enemy's fire, with Clinton and Heister riddling his 
ranks, he stood for three hours struggling desperately to save 
his troops from utter annihilation. He was made a prisoner 
on the Heights of Brooklyn, but on being exchanged with 
other prisoners we find him leading towards the Delaware 
the troops that Lee commanded before his capture and 
joining with 4,000 soldiers the band that Washington saved 
in his retreat over The Jerseys. At Trenton and Princeton 
he was amongst the most daring and brave, everywhere 
urging on his men to achieve the glorious victory that 
crowned the American cause in the winter of 1776. At 
Brandy wine we see him leading 800 brave hearts to death, if 
not to victory. He was exposed to the brunt of the battle 
in this encounter as at Brooklyn, and by word and example 
he rallied his men again to the charge, although the superior 
artillery of General Howe was ploughing through his ranks 
and mowing them down like corn. He showed a like 
courage, a fearlessness of death and danger at the unequal 
contest fought outside Philadelphia at Germanstown. He 
gave of his personal estate all he possessed to keep alive him- 
self and his troops at Valley Forge, and later we find him 
appointed to hunt back the Canadian and Indian forces that 
were harassing and pillaging and butchering the isolated 
colonists in Northern New York and Pennsylvania. 

For a time he had command of the forces sent to protect 
Ehode Island and the New England States against a 
land and sea force of several thousands that were devastat- 
ing the country around from their safe location at Newport. 
Here his irascible Irish nature broke out against the punc- 
tilious and dilatory support that the French allies were 
rendering their cause after arrival in American waters. 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 307 

General Anthony Wayne was another Irish-American who 
distinguished himself in the Eevolution. He was a Penn- 
sylvania man by birth, born of Irish parents. He received 
his early education from an uncle who discerned in the boy 
from his school days evidence that his talents were in the 
direction of a military career. At first it v/as intended to 
buy him a position in the English army, but owing to poli- 
tical considerations it was thought that sufficient influence 
would not be forthcoming to ensure his promotion. After 
he left school he was like Washington and many other pro- 
mising sons of large planters apprenticed to the surveying 
business. In this avocation he was chiefly employed until the 
Revolution broke out. At the commencement of the war he 
threw up the business of a survej'or and commenced recruit- 
ing a line of Pennsylvania militia. When he had these 
drilled and equipped he marched at their head into Cam- 
bridge and placed himself under Washington's command. 
His ideals of warfare were efficiency and military appear- 
ance, well uniformed neatness and more of the bayonet than 
the rifle science. Wayne was thirty years old when the war 
began. He learned his military drill from old books and 
was a stickler for old methods. He was a disciple of Brad- 
dock in method, but a true Celt in his headlong charges 
against the enemy. 

" Wayne," says Trevelyan, in his *' History of the Revo- 
lution," " had been defeated three times in as many weeks. 
He had been bruised by a cannon ball, grazed by a bullet and 
rolled over by a dying horse within a few paces of the Eng- 
lish bayonets and after his miraculous escape he wrote home 
to his wife that they had a glorious day, though the bullets 
were swizzing around him like hail." He was a great 
favourite with Washington, and where reckless daring was 
required Brigadier-General Wayne was ever at the command 
of the General. He is styled in all histories of the war 
by the not inglorious title of Mad Anthony Wayne. During 
the Presidency of Washington we find him sent out to the 



308 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Western districts in supreme command of the Republican 
arms to quell the Indians and suppress discontent in the 
backwoods territory. 

After the battle of Lexington it was an Irishman, Dr. 
Joseph Warren, who presided at a meeting of Massachu- 
setts men, in which it was resolved to raise a Patriot army 
of 16,000 to oppose the English garrison in charge of General 
Gage at Boston and to defend the liberties of America. 
Warren was a relative of Sir Peter Warren, of Warrington, 
Ireland. He was born at 'the ancestral home in Ireland, 
and was amongst the most enthusiastic in the cause of the 
Patriots. He was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill; after 
the fight was over he was amongst the last to leave the 
trenches and his tardy retreat caused him his death. His 
loss was a severe one to the Patriot army and his heroic 
death was deeply lamented by his countrymen. To avenge 
the death of so distinguished a patriot aroused the valour of 
his compatriots to renewed exertions. 

Henry Knox, another distinguished General, born of Irish 
parents in Boston in 1760, played a distinguished part in 
the military and civil life of America. When only 16 years 
of age he fought under old Ethel Allen, another brave Irish- 
man at Crown Point and Teconderoga, and was commissioned 
to bring into Cambridge early in the war a hundred swivel guns 
and much ammunition captured in these forts. This con- 
signment was of incalculable service to Washington in 
storming Boston, and the feat performed by young Knox 
was an heroic one when we consider his age and the fact 
that he had to travel over hundreds of miles in a 
pathless country covered with frost and snow. To him 
during the war was assigned the control of the artillery and 
on several occasions his well-directed bombarding of the 
enemy's ranks turned the tide of battle. He was noticeably 
successful at both Trenton and Princeton. With Washing- 
ton he was a great favourite and life-long personal friend. 
In general he was large of person, generous hearted, with 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 309 

a blustering manner that captivated by his apparent honesty. 
During the Presidency of Washington he was appointed to 
his first Cabinet as Secretary of War which he resigned 
in 1795. Another Irishman, who held an officer's command 
during the war, James McHenry, was his successor. 
McHenry held the position in John Adams' terms of office 
and gave every satisfaction by the efficient manner in which 
he discharged his duties. James McHenry was born in 
Ireland on November 16th, 1753, and arrived in Philadelphia 
in 1771, where he studied medicine until the war broke out. 
Pie joined the forces at Cambridge and acted as Assistant 
Surgeon to the army. Besides occupying the position of 
Minister of War during two Administrations he was Con- 
gressman for many years from the State of Maryland. 

The Eeid family, which gave several sons to the cause of 
liberty in army, navy and Senate, came originally from 
Dublin and settled in Philadelphia. At the battle of 
Trenton, and whilst crossing over the troops on the Dela- 
ware, swollen as it was by an inclement snow storm. Com- 
modore Eeid swept with grape-shot the bridge across the 
Assumpnik to protect the loaded boats that rocked and 
tossed with the troops and baggage to protect them from the 
enemy's outposts. Colonel John Reid distinguished him- 
self in many engagements during the war and noticeably at 
Trenton, Princeton, Germanstown and Brandywine. It 
was another brother, Joseph, who suggested to Washington 
the idea of striking a surprise blow at Trenton when the 
cause of liberty was hopeless and their position desperate. 

Thomas McKean was another distinguished Irish-Amer- 
ican whose parents emigrated from the Bann Valley early 
in the eighteenth century and settled in Pennsylvania. 
Thomas fought with distinction in the Revolution, but like 
Jefferson his duty confined him more to Congressional work 
and Administration than the camp. He was member of 
Congress from 1774 till the peace was signed in 1783. One 
time President of the Congress and held the position of 



310 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Governor of his State, Pennsylvania. He was an active and 
constant force, urging on the war and aiding in drafting in 
supplies during the entire war. Though he was loyal to 
Washington throughout he was one of those who would have 
preferred a more active campaign than the General saw fit 
to pursue at times. He was an ultra-Democrat, a personal 
friend and disciple of Jefferson. 

Colonel John Stack, a North of Ireland man, whose family 
settled in New Hampshire in the township of Londonderry, 
was another brave defender of liberty in the Eevolution. 
When the war broke out at Lexington and when it was 
necessary for everyone to take sides in the coming struggle 
he resolved to take an active part and soon he marched into 
Cambridge at the head of an Irish corps 800 strong which 
he recruited among the Hampshire Irishmen, As Stack 
was a soldier of much distinction in the late colonial wars, 
a rich reward was offered him should he throw in his lot 
with the Loyalists. He spurned the offer and in the Patriot 
ranks proved himself amongst the bravest in the entire 
army. At Bunker's Hill he was amongst the last to leave 
the trenches, and he and his Irish troops stood at the outer 
rails guarding the trenches, beating back the Eedcoats with 
the butts of their carabines until the main forces were clear 
of attack and danger. Noticeable amongst his brave com- 
panions were Eeid and Knowlton, Irishmen also. 

At the battle of Bennington Stack won a signal victory over 
800 troops sent by Burgoyne to destroy stores and gather 
provender from the inhabitants. John Langdon, of Irish 
origin, was speaker of the Assembly when news came of 
the British troops approaching their State. He rose before 
the delegates and said: "I have 3,000 pounds in cash. 
I will pledge my plate for 3,000 more. I have 
seventy hogsheads of rum. I will sell it. I will place the 
amount at the service of my State. If we succeed I will 
be repaid; if we fail I will lose all. Our old friend Stack, 
who so nobly defended the honour of our State at Bunker's 




y 



r ^. 



X. 



-T^gSij^ 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 311 

Hill, will conduct our forces and defend our honour. At Ben- 
nington Stack led out his men to meet the foe, and as 
he approached them he said: " See, soldiers, there are the 
Eedcoats we beat to-day or MolW Stack is a widow." Stack 
led his men, riding in front of them, and in four divisions 
he engaged the enemy. With a shout like thunder his Irish 
troops advanced and for two hours the din of the desperate 
encounter was like one continued clap of thunder until 
finally the foe gave way and were completely routed, 200 
being killed or wounded and 600 made prisoners 

There is one other Irishman that can't be omitted from 
the list of distinguished Generals from Ireland who fought 
and sacrificed for American freedom, although death came 
to him before he had achieved much laurels for his adopted 
country, I refer to General Montgomery. 

Brigadier-General Montgomerj^ was born in Donegal on 
the 2nd December, 1736, entered the British army early in 
life and fought with distinction under Wolfe at the capture 
of Quebec in 1758. He returned to Ireland after the Treaty 
of 1762, ceding Canada to England, sold his commission and 
returned to America, where in 1773 he married a daughter 
of Eobert B. Livingstone. He adopted New York State 
as his home and settled down to the life of an American 
citizen. When the war broke out between America and 
the Mother country he was selected a delegate to the 
National Convention in Philadelphia. Washington knew 
his worth as a soldier and influenced his promotion to the 
position of Brigadier-General in the army about to be 
formed. Montgomery did not desire the honour, though he 
accepted the position with diffidence. Thus he wrote Con- 
gress : " The Congress having done me the honour of elect- 
ing me a Brigadier-General in their service is an event which 
must put an end for a while, perhaps for ever, to the quiet 
scenes of life I had prescribed for myself, for though entirely 
unexpected and undeserved by me, the will of an oppressed 
people must be obeyed." His last words to his wife wher; 



312 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

setting out for Canada were : ' ' You shall never have cause 
to blush for your Montgomery." 

A description of how he fought and fell at Quebec will be 
interesting. When leading the New York troops in a rush 
over the snow-clad and ice-bound rocks, he reached the first 
barrier and in an instant the outer forts of Quebec were 
reached and carried by storm. For a second Montgomery 
halted before the second barrier, seen dimly by him through 
the faint light, and having gathered his soldiers around him,, 
he pointed with his sword to the palisade ahead, whilst his. 
eye kindled with fire of coming victory, he said: " Men of 
New York, you will not fear to follow where your young; 
General leads. March on." Pronouncing these words he 
dashed forward to gain a rising ground, thirty yards 
from the barrier, when suddenly a cannon ball sped from 
one of the cannon concealed in the snow. The effect of 
the hurricane of bullets issuing from those death-bearing 
artillery brought the young Commander to the earth. In 
the course of the day his body was discovered half buried 
in the snow. The British troops cut off his head and carried 
it around in triumph, fixed on the end of a halbert. His 
soldiers, on learning the sad fate of their Commander, burst 
into tears. His body was buried where he fell on the 
heights of Quebec. Forty years after his remains were 
carried to New York, and Congress erected in his honour in 
the city of his adoption a monument. His name and memory 
to this day is fondly cherished by Irish- Americans. 

Additional Irish-Americans in the American Revolution 
who distinguished themselves in the cause of Independence : 

General Enoch Poor, of Irish parentage, was born in 
New Hampshire. He fought with Montgomery in the 
Canadian expedition in 1775, was raised to the rank of 
Brigadier-General, served with distinguished valour at the 
battle of Saratoga where Burgoyne lost his army. Before 
the war was ended he died at Hachensack, N.J., in 1780. 

Colonel Francis Barber, son of Patrick Barber, County 
Longford, was one of those who answered the first bugle 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 313 

call of the Eevolution, and appeared early in 1775 at Cam- 
bridge leading a troop of volunteers from New Jersey. He 
was attached to the troops on active service in the Northern 
States during the war, and when the American and French 
concentrated their united forces at Yorktown in 1781 
he was amongst the victors. He lost his life by a tree 
falling upon him outside the fortifications of Cornwallis at 
Yorktown. 

Colonel Zebulon Butler, of Wyoming Valley fame, led 
the colonial troops in that fierce and cruel engagement in 
which his brother and the cruel Indian Chief Brant, at the 
head of Loyalists, Canadians and Indians, so inhumanly 
butchered the inhabitants of Wyoming and Cherry Valleys 
in 1778. The brothers Butler fought with great fury and 
determination on opposite sides, and the slaughter of the 
inhabitants by the wild Indian tomahawks has been ren- 
dered famous by Thomas Campbell in his beautiful poem of 
" Gertrude of Wyoming." 

There were many distinguished Irishmen of the name 
Butler who fought on the side of liberty in the war. There 
were three brothers, Colonels Thomas, Edward and Eichard, 
who fought in many engagements during the Eevolution 
with Washington. Besides there was one Pierce Butler 
related to the Duke of Ormond, who was bom in Ireland in 
1744. He took a leading part in South Carolina in helping 
on the war, was member of local committees, delegate to 
Constitutional Convention in 1787, and acted for some time 
as Governor of the State of South Carolina. 

Captain William Keraghan was born in Belfast in 1746. 
He was amongst the slain at Wyoming, was a man of 
wonderful bravery and great modesty. On the morning of 
battle he spoke thus to Captain Stewart, another Irish 
officer: "My pursuits in life have been so far those of 
peace ; you, Captain, have been used to war and accustomed 
to command on parade. I can manoeuvre my men, but 
on the field of battle no unnecessary risks should be run. A 



314 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

mistake might prove fatal. Take you the command; I will 
follow where you lead. I will fight under you with my men, 
either as your adjutant or as a private." Like the brave 
men who fell in this valley he sold his life dearly in defence 
of the homes and hearths and widows and orphans of 
Wyoming. (The women of Wyoming were brave and loyal 
and I note that their little State has granted enfranchise- 
ment to women). 

General Andrew Lewis fought with distinction in the Ohio 
district against the Indians. 

Luke Eyan, a noted privateer, was commissioned by Con- 
gress to cruise in command of the frigate named " Black 
Prince " against British vessels in American waters. He 
was famous for the number of British vessels he succeeded 
in capturing during the first three years of the war. Eyan 
was captured by the English, brought to London and tried 
at the Old Bailey, but by the intervention of the Court of 
Versailles was liberated. 

The Clintons were sons of Irish parents who came to 
America from County Longford early in the eighteenth 
century. They settled in the State of New York and became 
very wealthy and leaders in their adopted district. George 
Clinton became Governor of New York after the war broke 
out and after the cruel Governor Tyron was supplanted by 
Congress. He held the position of Governor of the State for 
eighteen years, from 1777 to 1795. He died in 1812, full 
of years and honours. He was a Brigadier-General in the 
war, and when he died he was Vice-President of the Ee- 
public which he did so much to establish. With Washing- 
ton from colonial days until the death of the latter he was 
on most intimate terms, and he proved his loyalty on every 
public occasion. 

James Clinton, brother of George, a soldier of eminence, 
took part in every engagement of note during the entire 
war. He was with Sullivan in North New York, leading 
1,600 troops in 1779. He fought not alone at Canada and 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION, 315 

Ehode Island as well as Yorktown with the rank of General, 
but he had a name famed for valour from his active part 
in the last colonial wars in which his father, Colonel Clinton, 
also distinguished himself. In State affairs he was of no 
mean repute, and in the Federal Convention in 1787 he was 
a delegate from his native State, New York. 

He was as a General cool, ready and courageous, and 
always acted with great judgment, but when roused to action 
he was fierce, passionate and irresistible. 

Commissionary General Charles Stewart was born in 
Donegal, 1729; emigrated to America in 1750, was elected 
to the position of Deputy-Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. 
In 1774 he represented New Jersey at a province meeting 
of delegates, and was a member of the Convention that 
launched the Ee volution in 1775. During the entire war 
he was in active service under Washington, and after the war 
he was a Congressman in New Jersey in 1784 and 1785. 

At the battle of Brandywine the most prominent com- 
manders under the Commander-in-Chief were of Irish origin 
and on them the brunt of the fighting was centred. General 
John Armstrong led the Pennsylvania militia with Generals 
Wayne and Eeid. General John Sullivan held a command 
in the hottest of the fray with six brigades which he offi- 
cered. General Henry Knox had charge of the artillery in 
this as in many other engaments, and he made his cannon 
play with destructive effect on the advancing forces of the 
British troops. In addition you had Generals Conway, 
Nash, Maxwell, McDougal and Eeid, who took important 
part in the battle of Brandywine. 

Colonels Lowry and Butler distinguished themselves in 
this encounter and both received honoured mention for their 
courage and bravery. 

Matthew Mease, an Irishman, was purser in the " Bon 
Homme Eichard," the famed man-of-war led by the heroic 
Paul Jones, Mease, in the encounter with the " Scrapis," 
volunteered to serve the guns amid deck in the historic en- 
counter between the seraphs and " Bon Homme Eichard." 



316 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

The capture of Stony Point, forty miles up the Hudson 
from New York, was looked upon by historians as the most 
brilliant feat of the war, and it was a prize that Washington 
planned with great care, and gave the execution of it to none 
other than the famed Anthony Wayne. 

It cannot be overrated the important service rendered to 
the cause of liberty by the Backwoodsmen from Georgia to 
Kentucky, more than half of whom were Irish pioneers of 
the wild Western territory. Nor can we omit special men- 
tion of one of their guerilla leaders, Francis Marion, of Irish 
origin. Marion's field of action was in the Southern border 
districts, and his name came prominently forward when 
Cornwallis and Tarleton, Ferguson and Lord Kawdon were 
carrying death and destruction wherever they marched from 
Georgia to North Carolina. Marion was made Brigadier- 
General by Governor Rutledge, an Irishman of great dis- 
tinction in the Revolution as well as in Congress. Marion's 
brigade was formed mainly of neighbours and friends and 
constantly fluctuated in numbers. He was a man of mature 
age, small of stature, but hardy, healthy and vigorous. 
Brave but not a braggart. He feared not danger, but never 
rushed rashly into it. By nature taciturn and by habit ab- 
stemious; he was a strict disciplinarian, careful of the lives 
of his men, but caring little for his own. When duty called 
him to meet the enemy he was first in the fray. Just he 
was in all his dealings, without any sordid or mercenary 
motives, he was the soul of honour. He had his haunts and 
fastnesses in the morasses of the Pedec river and surrounding 
district. His men like himself were trained to endurance 
and hardy fare; could subsist on dried food and potatoes, 
with little garments to cover them by day or by night. The 
bush life and the Indian tactics were the school in which 
he and his troops were trained, and no expedient or strata- 
gen was unknown to them. They sallied forth like wolves 
on their prey, hidden and unforeseen. They obstructed the 
march of the enemy, cut down bridges, hung on the heels 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 317 

of the enemy in their retreats and marches, and when they 
had fully roused the ire of the enemy, they with lightning 
speed disappeared into their fenny fortresses. He was 
named by the British " The Swamp Fox," but amongst his 
countrymen who knew his valour and worth he was styled, 
owing to his courage, lofty spirit and spotless life, the 
" Bayard of the South." 

When the army of Washington was sorely pressed after 
the great victories at Trenton and Princeton in the winter of 
1776 by the swift-footed troops of Cornwallis, taid when there 
was only a bridge across a river separating a superior and 
wxll-fed and well-rested army from attacking the Patriot 
army hurrying towards the mountains for rest and winter 
quarters, an Irishman named Major Kelly performed a deed 
of heroism similar to our forefathers on the Bridge of Ath- 
lone. Kelly stood his ground with hatchet in hand in the 
face of shot and shell until he cut the main support of the 
planks over the swollen river, a tributary of the Delaware, 
and succeeded in tearing down the last plank. The bridge 
fell into the water and with it the brave, though unhurt, 
Irish Major. Though he was made captive by the enemy, 
he saved the American forces from an attack which would 
have proved a defeat. 

There is another act of heroism recorded of a brave and beau- 
tiful young Irishwoman named by the army. Major Molly, 
and for which she was rewarded by the rank of Sergeant and 
half -pay for life. It is recorded how she followed her hus- 
band in the war, when he, a cannonier, was shot at his 
gun on the Hudson in 1777, when fighting the troops of 
Sir Henry Clinton, as they dealt death and destruction up 
the Hudson waters on every side. The General, who was 
the renowned Greene, seeing the gunner dead, ordered the 
piece to Be taken off the field, but no. Molly, returning 
from a well hard by with her pitcher of water, volunteered 
to take her dead husband's place and continued, not alone 
in that engagement, but till the end of the war to charge 



318 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the cannon with a fearless courage that drew down the 
respect, admiration and praise of the entire arrny. Another 
deed of Irish daring is recorded of an Irishman named 
Jasper, who, in 1776, when the American flag had been shot 
down by a British ship and had fallen to the bottom of the 
trench, jumped the parapet wall, walked the full length of 
the fort, picked up the flag and stuck it in position, though 
shot and shell flew around him. This brave soldier received 
his death by attempting a siixiilar feat of heroism at the siege 
of Yorktown towards the end of the war. 

Dr. Corcoran, an Irishman, was Director-General of Hos- 
pitals and in the Eevolution he held the honoured position 
of Surgeon-General of the Army. 

Another Irishman, David Eamsay, was a distinguished 
historian of the war, and his work has been recognised as a 
classic for accurate information and lucid details of the 
entire Eevolutionary period. 

Andrew Pickens, who might be classed side by side with 

Francis Marion as a guerilla chieftain of the South in the 
war, was also distinguished for his political service after the 
war in South Carolina, and was raised to the rank of Major- 
General of Militia in 1795 under the Kepublic. Washing- 
ton, in his term of Presidency, honoured him by appointing 
him Commissioner to bring about a treaty with the Indians. 
He was related by marriage to that distinguished Irish- 
American statesman and orator, J. C. Colhoun, being mar- 
ried to his aunt. 

Edward Rutledge, soldier, statesman and incomparable 
orator, as well as signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
was son of Dr. Eutledge, an Irishman by birth. Rutledge 
was Governor of South Carolina for a lengthened period, and 
held several positions of trust in the Republic . 

Thomas Lynch was the youngest member of the Congress 
who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was born 
in South Carolina of Irish parents, studied law and held the 
position of Captain in the Revolution. 



THE IRISH IN THE REVOLUTION. 319 

George Eeid, son of John Eeid, from Dublin, was also a 
signer of the Declaration. He reached the position of 
Attorney-General in the Republic. 

This commemoration of the part taken by our forefathers 
in the American Revolution would not be complete did we 
omit to mention the Irish Brigade from France who fought 
in the French army for American liberty. This Brigade of 
Irish soldiers was formed in France soon after the Treaty 
of Limerick in 1691, and for a hundred years from 1692 to 
1792, when the Brigade was disbanded during the French 
Revolution, it has been computed that almost half-a-million 
Irish soldiers fell in the service of France. It was the 
proud privilege of this famed Brigade that they claimed the 
right to Be always called out first among the soldiers of 
France to fight in every battle in which France and England 
were opposed to each other. Revenge for the wrongs of 
centuries inflamed them with hate and courage against their 
Saxon persecutors. Their watchword was, as at Fontenoy, 
" Remember Limerick and English perfidy " and so we find 
when the Alliance of France with America was sealed in 
1778 during the war that the spokesman of the Irish Brigade, 
General Arthur Dillon, sent in a petition that the regiments 
of Berwick, Walsh, Fermoy, and Dillon — regiments formed 
after the Wild Geese had sailed from Ireland in 1791 — should 
be allowed to serve in the American war. Dillon was 
appointed Commander of 2,300 soldiers of the above corps 
of the Irish Brigade w^ho shipped in April, 1779, from France 
in the fleet commanded by Count D'Estaing. These troops 
w^ere mainly recruited in Ireland. It is unnecessary to add 
that those brave Irish troops led by Dillon performed heroic 
work in the American cause from the time they landed at 
Savannah until the end of the war. 

The close connection between France and Ireland, it 
should be remembered, began long before Sarsfield and his 
brave Wild Geese landed in France after the Treaty of Lime- 
rick. In the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the education 



320 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

of Irish Catholics was banned at home, and when to enter 
Trinity was to deny the CathoHc religion, France opened wide 
the portals of her schools and Universities and admitted lay 
and clerical students to her friendly seats of learning. James 
Caldwell, a patriotic historian of Irish affairs, wrote thus 
of the Irish of the eighteenth century : ' ' There was scar- 
cely," says he, "a Popish family in Ireland that had not 
some relative who was either a priest or -enlisted in a 
foreign army or engaged in trade in France or Spain, and 
that their children were all taught Latin throughout the 
Southern part of the Kingdom at hedge schools to qualify 
them for foreign service." 

When the French took the side of America in the Eebel- 
lion, not alone secret agents from America, but French 
agents also were secretly passing among the Irish, hoping 
to soon bring about a Kebellion in the Irish Kingdom. De 
Vergennes, the Prime Minister of France at this time, kept 
a steady eye on the Island, but when he found out that 
the discontent and agitation was not to bring about separa- 
tion from England, but to secure legislative Independence, 
he ceased to interest himself so much in Irish affairs. 

It will be interesting in concluding this chapter to quote 
the following beautiful passage delivered by President Taft 
to the Irish Societies in America 140 years later than the 
days of the Ke volution. 

" They (the Irish) believe in constituted authority. They 
believe in the institutions of modern society. They believe 
in the preservation of the checks and balances of our con- 
stitutional structure. Not from them do we hear proposals 
to change the fundamental law or take away the indepen- 
dence of the judiciary or to minimise in any way the in- 
fluence of ^e power of constituted authority. They welcome 
progress. They are enterprising and active to further 
prosperity. They are not full of diatribes against the 
existing order." Again he continues: "The Irish have 
accentuated the American will. Thev have added to 



ARMY WANTED TO MAKE WASHINGTON KING. 321 

American tenderness. They have perhaps instilled into 
American life a little additional pugnacity. They have in- 
creased his spirit of good fellowship. They have added to 
his social graces. They have increased his poetic imagina- 
tion. They have added to his sunn^^ philosophy. They 
have suffused his whole existence with the spirit of kindly 
humour. ' ' 



GHAPTEE XXXI. 

Army w^anted to make Washington King : 
The Society of Cincinnati. 

Just before taking leave of his devoted army "Washington 
was undergoing another severe trial and a painful experi- 
ence at their hands. We saw that during the course of the 
war the chief source of trouble and anxiety to the General 
and his soldiers was want of necessaries and small pay owing 
to want of funds which Congress was often powerless to 
supply. J\Iuch discontent at every turn during the cam- 
paign was manifested, but at no time was any blame at- 
tached to the Commander-in-Chief for the unsatisfactory 
state in which the army often found itself. On the con- 
trary the armies in the field loved their Chief and were pre- 
pared at all times during the past seven years to follow him 
to death or victory. 

There naturally grew up between the General and his men 
a fondness which was real and mutual. He saw their 
devotion to him and the cause in which he commanded; he 
shared with them all the toils and trials of a severe and 
protracted war; he felt for them and he left no stone un- 
turned to relieve them from present wants and to provide 
for their future happiness when the turmoil of war should 
cease. The army knew his worth. They feared for the 
future on personal and national grounds. They had no 



322 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

confidence in the civil rulers. All their hard trials they 
believed were to be attributed to the Congress representing 
the United States. They dreaded that after they should 
lay down their arms and depart to a peaceful life over the 
States that whatever form of government might be adopted 
they would be neglected and that the promised pensions of 
half-pay for life might be ignored by the future rulers of 
those States that they fought and bled and suffered to free 
from English tyranny. Hence as they thought in the 
interests of peace and on behalf of the army, before the 
army should be disbanded, Colonel Nicola was deputed to 
appeal to General Washington in the following address, ask- 
ing him to become their king over the United States : 

It will," he said, " be uncontroverted that the same 
abilities which have led us through difficulties apparently 
insurmountable by human power to victory and glory, those 
qualities that have merited and obtained universal esteem 
and veneration of the army would be most likely to conduct 
and direct us in the smoother paths of peace. Some people 
have so connected the ideas of tyrannj^ and monarchy as to 
find it very difficult to separate them. It may therefore 
be requisite to give the head of such a constitution as I 
propose some more moderate title; but if all things were 
once adjusted I believe strong arguments might be pro- 
duced for admitting the name of King." 

This letter though coming from a devoted army who held 
in sad remembrance the treatment received during an 
arduous campaign from the impoverished and oscillating 
assembly, yet it must have been for Washington a most embar- 
rassing and painful ordeal to be thus approached by the 
army that adored him, Washington who had no higher 
ambitions during the war than faithfully to serve his country 
and who had no other wish at its close than to return to his 
beloved Mount Vernon and around the smiling banks and 
braes along the charming Potomac, cultivate in peace his 



ARMY WANTED TO MAKE WASHINGTON KING. 323 

orchards and vine in the evening of his illustrious life. His 
reply, noble, stern and compassionate, was as follows : 

Sir — With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment 
I have read your letter. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in 
the course of the war has given me more painful sensations 
than your information that there exists such an idea in the 
army as you have expressed, which I must view with abhor- 
rence and apprehend with severity. For the present the 
communication of them will rest in my bosom unless some 
further agitation of the matter shall make a disclosure 
necessary. I am much at a loss to know what part of my 
conduct could have given encouragement to an address 
which to me seems big with the greatest mischief that can 
befall my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge 
of myself you could not have found a person to whom your 
schemes are more disagreeable. No one desires ampler 
justice to the army than I do, and in a constitutional way 
I shall to the utmost of my abilities influence the authori- 
ties to effect redress. 

" Banish then all such though from your mind." . . . 

General Knox, that big-hearted Irishman, a great 
favourite with Washington, the officer who had charge 
of the artillery in the Eevolution, and who, by the 
way, used it to such advantage at Trenton and 
Princeton, his Secretary of War under the Constitution, 
and a life-long personal friend, formed the Society of Cin- 
cinnati to perpetuate the friendship formed amongst the 
officers of the army in the war and to keep alive a spirit of 
brotherhood in after life. Washington gave the project his 
approbation and promised to co-operate with the promoters 
of this union. The society took the name Cincinnati in memory 
of the illustrious Roman, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, 
who assumed command of the Roman Legions straight from 
the plough, and after defending his country and leading her 
armies to a glorious victory retired from the wars to the 
peaceful duties of the citizen. The object of the society 



324- LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

were to perpetuate a memory of the war and a brotherhood 
among the officers, to defend and propagate the principles 
for which they fought and to afford assistance to each other 
in adverse circumstances, to aid the famiHes of those of 
the brotherhood in distress, and for this purpose a month's 
pay was deposited by each member on admission. 

The designating badge of the society was a deep blue 
ribbon edged with white and a medal with the golden eagle 
on one side and the words " Commemorating the War for 
Independence " on the other. The society was to be divided 
into States, each State to have districts. A general meet- 
ing of the society was to be held every first Monday in May. 
The States branches were to hold an annual meeting every 
4th of July, and the districts were to meet as arranged by 
the Executive branch of each State. Honorary members 
under conditions were eligible. The French officers were 
each to be presented with a badge and to be accepted as 
honorary members, and any prominent patriotic citizen 
might be co-opted as member by their respective State. 
There was a movement among a section of the members to 
make the society hereditary, descending from father to 
son, etc., etc. The ultra-democrats over the States were 
suspicious of the society and one, Burke of Carolina, sounded 
a note against its utility, and he was ably seconded in 
France by the illustrious i\Iirabeau. When Washington, 
in May, 1784, was elected chairman, there was a feeling of 
opposition that boded evil for the society, and its President 
was ill at ease in the chair. However to the meeting came 
representatives from France approving of the association and 
adopting it with enthusiasm as a bond that would keep alive 
the Alliance of France and America. The tide turned by 
the French intervention at the convention in favour of the 
Cincinnati, but the rules were modified, the hereditary prin- 
ciple was annulled. Civilians were excluded, and it was 
decided that the annual meetings should take place 
triennially. 



CHIEF POINTS OF CONSTITUTION. 325 

Frankliu was somewhat cynical about the association, but 
Jefferson was openly opposed to its existence. Washington, 
after he saw the opposition that its existence created, was 
less enthusiastic than he otherwise would have been. He 
however remained in close touch with its operations as long 
as he lived, and as late as 1789, when President and when 
on a tour of inspection to the New England States, one of 
the addresses he received most graciously came from the 
Society of Cincinnati of Massachusetts. In it they heralded 
him as " their glorious leader in war, their illustrious ex- 
ample in peace." The reply of their President and old 
Commander w^as most touching. " Dear indeed," says he, 
" is the occasion which restores an intercourse wdth my 
associates in adverse fortune and enhanced are the triumphs 
of peace participated with those whose virtue and valour so 
largely contributed to procure. To that virtue and valour 
your country has confessed her obligations. Be mine the 
grateful task to add to the testimony of a connection which 
it was my pride to own in the field and is now my happiness 
to acknowledge in the enjoyment of peace and freedom." 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Sketch or SuiMmary of Chief Points of Constitution. 

The plan mapped out by the framers began with the fol- 
lowing preamble : " We, the people of the United States, in 
order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure 
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, pro- 
mote the general welfare and secui-e the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America." 

As I will give in appendix the original Constitution with 
the fifteen Articles which have been added to it since 1791 
until 1870 when 15th and last article was added to the original 



326 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Seven Articles framed in 1787, I might add here also that 
most of the added Articles were at time of ratification in 
1788 and following years argued and contended for by in- 
dividual States in the then Union. Jefterson and his party, 
known as Democratic Kepublicans, with Patrick Henry and 
Monroe, Samuel Adams, Hancock and Madison, had feared 
that centralization of authority might converge into mon- 
archial government, and hence they strongly opposed the 
encroachment of the Federal authority on the individual 
State. It was the carrying out of the Jeffersonian principles 
that led to secession and the civil war which deluged the 
nation in blood and eventually gave to the State government 
that supremacy and solidarity for which Washington con- 
tended. The United States at time of the Union consisted 
of thirteen Commonwealths or Republics, with separate Con- 
stitutions and all the essentials for self-government. Since 
the Union about forty States and territories have been 
incorporated in the Federation by consent, and complying 
with the conditions mapped out for admission into the Union 
by the Constitution. 

Each individual State admitted into the Union has a 
separate government of its own to legislate for its own State. 
They appoint by popular vote a Governor and representa- 
tives. They have powers to make their own laws, levy their 
own taxes, appoint their own police and frame State laws, 
which however must in no way clash with the legislative or 
other powers of the Federal Government. The Federal 
Legislature is the judge of such matters if disputes should 
arise. 

" The States individually," says Bryce, " {a) include 
every right and power of a government except that of seceding 
from Union; (h) the powers which the Federal Constitution 
withholds from them as regards commerce and treaties and 
intercourse with foreign nations; and (c) such other powers 
as their Constitutions confer by way of compromise upon 
the Federal Government." The States government might 



CHIEF POINTS OF CONSTITUTION. 

be said to rule the daily life of the citizens and regulate their 
concerns, whilst the Federal government appeals more to 
their sense of patriotism. It is the central bond for all 
American ideas of nationality. It is the bond that enthuses 
them and grafts them together as a people and a nation. 
State government since the civil war assumes for the practi- 
cal purposes of government the place of extended and liberal 
local government. It is the balancing power in the Union. 
Just as the Federal government acts as a bond of union 
and security to the States, so does the State government 
solidify and balance the Federal government. Hence when 
the country every four years is in a turmoil over the Pre- 
sidential election, when the Federal centre of gravity is 
going or gone, government independent of the turmoil pro- 
ceeds apace by the machinery inherent to each State legis- 
lature over the nation. In some way this self-governing 
and automatic system acts as a fulcrum and some sort of 
anchorage to party strife, and keeps the ship of State steady 
with a steadiness little less than the monarchial conservative 
stability and continuity inherent in Koyalty. 

There is little difference over the States at present in 
politics in one State from another, considering the fluctuat- 
ing nature of the population and the influx of colonizers. 
Eailways and other means of communication have a levelling 
influence on factions and parties. Trade and commerce are 
so interlaced, tariff so universal and the union of common 
interests so evenly balanced over the Union that vast though 
the area of Union is, real union in every essential is a more 
practical asset now than it was a hundred years ago. The 
educational ramifications with one official language have not 
a little helped to solve the difficulties which one might ex- 
pect in ruling from one centre one hundred millions of a 
population. With the above preliminaries w^e will pass on to 
discuss hurriedly some leading points of the Constitution. 

The Legislative powers of the United States are vested 
in a Congress of Senators and Eepresentatives elected from 



328 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

the states affiliated to the Union, Each State sends two 
Senators to the National Senate, chosen by their own Legis- 
lature. Their term of office is for six years, going out in 
rotation one-third every two years. 

The House of Kepresentatives is composed of candidates 
elected by the popular vote of the qualified electors of each 
State. They are chosen for two years' service in Congress. 
The Senators vary with the number of States in Union. 
The Eepresentatives vary with the population of the nation. 
In the year 1890 there was one Representative for every 
173.900 of the population. There are at present about 360 
Representatives and a little over 90 Senators in Congress. 
We had only 26 Senators after Rhode Island in 1790 came 
into the Union, now we should have 104 if some of the 52 
States were not as yet only Territories and so not formally 
adopted in the Union. No one is eligible for Senator until 
he has attained the age of 30 years and has been nine years 
an inhabitant of the States for which he is chosen. The 
Vice-President of the United States is President of the 
Senate. The Senate has sole power to try all impeach- 
ments. 

The qualifications for a Representative are that he be 
25 years old, seven years a citizen of United States, and a 
resident in the State for which he is elected. The Senators 
and Representatives are paid at same rate, whilst in Con- 
gress, besides 8,000 dollars, they have their travelling and 
incidental expenses allowed them. 

The President of the United States must be a natural-born 
citizen of United States and have attained the age of 35 
years. The President holds office for four years and may have 
his term renewed as often as the electors desire, but since 
Washington's eight years' office in the chair as Chief Magis- 
trate no President has sought the suffrage for a third election. 

Before the President enters upon office he swears the fol- 
lowing oath before the Lord Chief Justice : " I do solemnly 
swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



CHIEF POINTS OF CONSTITUTION. 329 

the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, 
protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." 
He is liable to impeachment for violating this solemn trust. 
Only one President, Andrew Jackson, of old Ulster stock, 
has been arraigned by Congress. He was acquitted, though 
the case was strong against him, that he had exceeded his 
powers as constitutional head of the Executive. It is an 
admitted fact that Abraham Lincoln exceeded his powers 
during the civil war by suspending the Habeas Corpus. Bnt 
the circumstances were exceptional. The President's salary 
was fixed by Constitution at 20,000 dollars. He keeps ro 
bodyguard or court, assumes no other title than that cf 
President. The offences for w^hich he may be impeached 
are : Treason, bribery, or other high crimes and mis- 
demeanours. 

The President and Vice-President are elected indirectly 
by the popular vote. Each State votes for Presidential 
electors at the time and manner pointed out in Constitution. 
These electors voted for by the suffrage of the States vote 
for the President and Vice-President. Each State has as 
many electoral voters as there are Senators and Representa- 
tives from their respective States. These electors voted 
for must not be ofRcials or Congress men. The votes are 
sealed by Legislatures of each State, and transmitted to 
Congress to be counted in presence of both houses of Con- 
gress. The candidates who obtain the majority of votes 
become President and Vice-President respectively. If no 
candidate obtains a majority, the House of Pepresentatives 
proceed to elect a President in accordance with enactment 
of Congress passed in September, 1804, and now incorporated 
in the Articles of the Constitution. Should the President 
die during his term of office then the Vice-President becomes 
President, and should he die one of the secretaries of Council 
or Cabinet in order of seniority of importance of office. There 
were only three members of the Cabinet in Washington's 
time. The President is not bound to consult his Cabinet or 



330 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

ministry ; they are his servants and assistants and are nomi- 
nated by him and can be dismissed at his pleasure. He 
and not they are accountable to the people for acts of the 
Executive. Cabinet ministers are independent of Congress, 
have no seat or vote in either House, and neither assem- 
blies need consult them or act from their instructions. The 
President is independent of either House, is above the parties 
and legislators. He need not mind a vote adverse to his 
policy as it is to the people of the nation and not to the 
people's representatives he is accountable. The President 
signs all Acts before they become law; but after he has 
kept a bill in his possession he must return it to Congress 
before ten days, otherwise it has the force of law. If he 
returns it unsigned and to be amended he must sign it as 
sent up to him the second time. In matters of Treaties and 
wars the President is supreme in consultation with the 
Senate. The only staying power the Eepresentatives can 
have on President and Senate in these matters would be by 
refusing to pass Money Bills and thus render the Executive 
powerless. All Money Bills originate in the Lower House. The 
Senate acts like our Lords as a steadying brake on the 
Representatives. I will merely add in reference to the 
Constitution that it empowers the National Congress to 
legislate for the whole Union, and to moderate and inspect 
the legislative enactments of the self-governing States; to see 
that they carry out the details of government in harmony 
with their own and the national and their sister States Consti- 
tutions. In deciding points with the State Constitution the 
State legal machinery is competent to decide. In adjust- 
ing legal points between separate States or a State with the 
Federal Union Government, the Supreme Court under the 
Constitution must decide. 

It will be noted that there is much similarity between the 
English Constitution and the American, The early State legis- 
latures were moulded by Englishmen mainly, and what was 
best in the Anglo-Saxon system was adopted by the 



CHIEF POINTS OF CONSTITUTION. 331 

colonials. Those men, with the varied experiences of the 
smaller constitutions and their working and development for 
generations, had ripe experience in small areas to aid by 
their counsel in building the new Federal system. Of course 
England's Constitution is a growth, an evolution, an un- 
written code sanctioned and seasoned by time and experi- 
ence; America's Constitution is a written Constitution 
moulded into parchment from the fusion of many experi- 
ences and the compromising of many interests. You must 
substitute President for King, Republic for Monarchial State, 
an elective Upper Chamber for an hereditary House of 
Lords, and a more democratic franchise for elective pur- 
poses. Yet you have a similar threefold division of govern- 
ment : the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial 
branches. The two systems differ fundamentally in this 
that in the British system the King, Parliament and people 
are a unit and sovereign and act as if the whole nation were 
in Parliament at same time. The American system has 
no constitutional body. The President and Congress are 
subject to the written Constitution. The ultimate and 
supreme power in the States are the people of the States 
acting in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, The 
drawback in the American system would seem to be the 
custom which Jefferson was mainly instrumental in bringing 
about, viz., that though the President is supposed by Con- 
stitution to be above party, yet he is always chosen on 
party lines. However it has not been known in the history 
of Presidents that the party spirit has been visible in the 
acts of the head of the Executive unless as regards appoint- 
ments of officials, which appointments are for most part made 
on party lines on the principle that " the spoils of victory 
belongs to the victor." This system was mainly introduced 
into America by Jefferson as President, and Jackson twenty 
vears later made a wholesale clearance of the officials in 
every department to make room for his friends. There are 
however permanent under-officials who know the traditions 



332 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

of the departments, and thus is obviated blundering and 
want of continuity in the oftices of State. We have the 
same system here in Ireland in our departments. 

"Whilst the different States were busily engaged in 1788 
conducting a campaign over the Union to find out the 
opinions of the people on the work done in the Constitutional 
Convention, we will give the opinions of the leaders of public 
opinion regarding the Constitution as it was sent forth from 
Congress to the State legislatures. Franklin thus speaks at 
close of the Convention : " If any form of government is 
capable of making a nation happy ours, I think, bids fair 
now for producing that effect. But after all much depends 
upon the people who are to be governed. We are making 
experiments in politics. We have been guarding against an 
evil that old States are most liable to, excess of power in 
the rulers ; but our present danger seems to be defect of 
obedience in the subjects." 

Washington, to different correspondents at this time, 
spoke out his mind freely on the Convention, and his opinion 
is of great importance, considering the part he had in fram- 
ing the Constitution and finally guiding and directing its 
early footsteps as President. He says in a letter to Patrick 
Henry, who was an anti-Federahst : " I wish the Constitu- 
tion which is offered had been more perfect, but I sincerely 
believe it is the best that could be obtained at this time; 
and as a constitutional door is opened for amendments here- 
after, the adoption of it under present circumstances is, in 
my opinion, desirable." Washington and those who longed 
for Union and Federation were, whilst the States were dis- 
cussing the Articles prior to ratification, actively engaged 
enlightening the public over the Union to bring about its 
ratification by the States as public affairs required govern- 
ment under the Constitution most urgently. 

Hamilton, Knox, Madison and Monroe, John Adams, as 
well as Marshall and Jay and others were by word and pen 
explaining and recommending the Constitution to the people. 



CHIEF POINTS OF CONSTITUTION. 333 

In this additional quotation from " the father of his 
country " you can gather conclusively how urgent he con- 
sidered the matter of adoption: ""Should the Constitution 
be adopted I think America will lift her head again, and in 
a few years become respectable among the nations. In the 
aggregate," he says again, " it is the best Constitution that 
can be obtained at this epoch, and that either we adopt it or 
a dissolution a^^'aits our choice, and this is the only alterna- 
tive." Again he says : " When our people shall find them- 
selves secure under an energetic government, when foreign 
nations shall be disposed to give us equal advantages in com- 
merce from dread of retaliation (Washington was a protec- 
tionist), when the burdens of war shall be in a manner done 
away with by the sale of the Western lands (I may in- 
cidentally mention that Virginia and the other interested 
States had ceded prior to the Convention their claims on 
the Western territories to Congress), when the seeds of 
happiness which are sown here shall begin to expand them- 
selves, then those blessings will be referred to the fostering 
influence of the new government " (letter to Lafayette). 

There were many leading spirits at this time who, whilst 
not opposed to a Union and Constitution, opposed the adop- 
tion of the Constitution until it should be amended, men 
such as Jefferson who, although in Paris, yet had many 
objections to offer. 1st. He believed that a Bill of Eights 
should be incorporated in the Articles. 2nd. He held that the 
States should not be tied down in such subserviency to the 
Federal Government. He would give them the right of 
nullification and the power to secede from the Union. He 
was for State, instead of Federal Sovereignty. 3rd. He 
feared that the President might, by rotation, become elected 
every four years for life. However Jefferson, who was 
democratic if anything, said the will of the people was the 
supreme law, and if the States adopted the Constitution he 
was content. He was elected in 1801 President and re- 
mained in office for eight years. 



334 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

The Constitution, after a fierce resistance, was adopted 
over the Union by eleven States. North Carolina did not 
come into the Union until after the new government was 
formed under the Constitution; and Rhode Island, at one 
time the most loyal and patriotic of the States, showed a 
most disintegrating spirit throughout. It neither sent dele- 
gates to the Convention in 1787, nor did it ratify until its 
splendid isolation made it imperative on it to seek for Union 
in 1790. 

The State sovereignty question seemed to be the great 
objection to the ratification over the most of the Union, but 
as Dr. Tocqueville has shown more particularly in the New 
England States. In these ultra-democratic States each 
State was an aggregate of the autonomous counties it con- 
tained, each of which again was made up of its self -governed 
townships — the " monods " of the political system. From 
this deeply-rooted system we can glean the opposition and 
resistance that was offered to the Constitution led by such 
veterans as Samuel Adams, the " Father of the Revolu- 
tion," and Hancock, President of first " Colonial Congress." 
It was during this Constitutional contest over the States that 
Federalists and Democrats had their origin. Those condi- 
tionally opposing the Constitution were ranked as Demo- 
crats. The Federalists were those who advocated a strong 
central executive. Hamilton and J. Adams were Federalists, 
Jefferson and Henry were strong Antis or Democrats. 




NORTH AM1:R1CA AT THE I-:XD OF THK WAR. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 335 



APPENDIX A. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776. 

The following preamble and specifications, known as the 
Declaration of Independence, accompanied the resolution 
of Richard Henry Lee, which was adopted by Congress on 
the 2nd day of July, 1776. This declaration was agreed to 
on the 4th, and the transaction is thus recorded in the 
Journal for that day : 

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved 
itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further 
consideration the Declaration; and, after some tim,e, the 
president resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that 
the committee have agreed to a Declaration, which they 
desired him to report. The Declaration being read, was 
agreed to as follows:" 

A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF 
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN 
CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes neces- 
sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which 
have connected them with another, and to assume, among 
the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, 
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 
they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
separation. 



336 APPENDIX A, 



1 



We hold these truths to be self-evident — that all men are 
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of hajDpiness. That, to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever 
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, 
it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to 
institute a new government, laying its foundations on such 
principles, and organising its powers in such form, as to 
them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and hap- 
piness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments 
long established should not be changed for light and tran- 
sient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown 
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are 
sufterable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms 
to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of 
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, 
it is their right, it is their duty, to throw o& such government, 
and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has 
been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is 
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their 
former systems of government. The history of the present 
king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and 
usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of 
an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let 
facts be submitted to a candid world. 

1. He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

2. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operations till his assent should be obtained; and, when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

3. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommoda- 
tion of large districts of people, unless those people would 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 337 

relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature — a 
right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

4. He has called together legislative bodies at places un- 
usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
into compliance with his measures. 

5. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for 
opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights 
of thg people. 

6. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, 
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at 
large for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the mean- 
time, exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without, 
and convulsions within. 

7. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these 
States ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturali- 
zation of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage 
their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands. 

8. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re- 
fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

9. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the 
tenure on their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

10. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers, to harass our people and eat out 
their substance. 

11. He has kept among us in times of peace, standing 
armies, without the consent of our Legislatures. 

12. He has affected to render the military independent of, 
and superior to, the civil power. 

13. He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitutions, and unacknowledged by 
our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legis- 
lation ; 

w 



338 APPENDIX A. 

14. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

15. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment 
for any murders which they should commit on the inhabi- 
tants of these States; 

16. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; 

17. For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

18. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of a 
trial by jury ; 

19. For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pre- 
tended offences; 

20. For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render 
it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing 
the same absolute rule into these colonies ; 

21. For taking away our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of 
our governments; 

22. For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever. 

23. He has abdicated government here, by declaring us 
out of his protection, and waging war against us. 

24. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

25. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and 
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty Hud 
perfidy scarcely parallel in the most barbarous ages, and 
totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

26. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive 
on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to 
become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to 
fall themselves by their hands. 

27. He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and 



THE DECLAtlATlOK OF iiS-DEPENDENCU. 339 

has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers 
the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare 
is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and 
conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for 
redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions 
have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose 
character is thus marked by every act which may define 
a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir- 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and 
we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred 
to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably in- 
terrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, 
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. 
We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which 
denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the 
rest of mankind — enemies in war; in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America in general Congress assembled, appealing to the 
Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our inten- 
tions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good 
people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that 
these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and 
independent States; that they are absolved from all allegi- 
ance to the British crown, and that all political connection 
between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought 
to be, totally dissolved, and that, as free and independent 
States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts 
and things which independent States may of right do. And 
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on 



340 



APPENDIX A. 



the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to 
each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour. 

The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, en- 
grossed, and signed by the following members : 

JOHN HANCOCK. 



NEW HAMPSHIKE, 

JOSIAH BaRTLETT, 

William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 



MASSACHUSETTS 

BAY. 
Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, 
Egbert Treat Pai>:e, 
Elbridge Gerry. 



RHODE ISLAND, 
Stephen PIopkins, 
William Ellery. 



CONNECTICUT. 
lioGER Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 



NEW YORK. 
V/illiam Eloyd, 
Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis 
Lewis Morris 



PENNSYLVANIA. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

DELAWARE. 
C^SAR Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel Chase, 
William Pag a, 
Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll, of 
Carrollton. 

VIRGINIA. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee,. 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison,. 
Thomas Nelson, Jun., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



341 



NEW JERSEY. 

Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Hey ward, Jun., 
Thomas Lynch, Jun., 
Arthur Middleton. 



GEORGIA. 

Button Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



342 



APPENDIX B. 



APPENDIX B. 

A CHART ON THE CONSTITUTION. 



Some Steps toward the 
Constitution 



'' New England Confederation (1643). 

Franklin's Plan of Union (1754). 

Stamp Act Congress (1765). 

Committees of Correspondence (1772). 

First Meeting of the Continental Congress (1774). 

Declaration of Independence {1776). 

Adoption of Articles of Confederation (1781). 

AnnaDolis Convention (1786). 
l^ Constitutional Convention (1787) 



Legislative Department - 



House of Representatives-" 



Senate 



Executive Department 



President 



Manner of election.' 

Term of office. 

Qualifications. 

Represents the people. 

Census. 

Apportionment. 

Speaker the Presiding Officer, 

Number. 

Manner of election. 

Term of office. 

Represents the States. 

Qualifications. 

Sole power to try impeachments. 

Vice-President the Presiding Officer. 



r Term of office. 
I Manner of election. 
,4 Qualifications. 
I Oath of office. 
\^ Impeachment. 



Judicial Department. 



( Manner of appointment. 

Cabinet -l Number. 

l^ Duties. 

r Manner of appointment. 

Judges \ Number. 

l^ Term of office. 

r Supreme. 

Courts -^ Circuit. 

(^ District. 



Congress 



Time of Meeting. 
Quorum. 
Adjournment. 
Journal. 

How a Bill becomes 
a Law. 



Congress has power — 
To lay taxes. 
To borrow money. 
To regulate commerce. 
To naturalize foreigners. 
To coin money. 

To fix standard of weights and measures. 
To establish post-offices. 
To declare war. 
To raise and support armies. 
To provide and maintain a navy. 
To maintain light houses. 
To make new States. 



Commander-in-chief of 



President's 
Powers 



the army and navy. 
With the advice and 
consent of the Sen- 
ate makes treaties C Ambassadors, 
and appoints J Ministers. 

j Consuls. 

(^ Judges. 



President's 
Duties 



f Messages to Con- 
gress. Special 
sessions of Con- 
gress. Receives 
Ambass a d o r s, 
Attends to ex- 
ecution of laws. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 343 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

We, the People of the United States, in order to form 
a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the 
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to our- 
selves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America. 

AETICLE I. — Legislative Department. 

SECTION I. All legislative powers herein granted shall 
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall 
consist of a Senate and House of Kepresentatives. 

SECTION II.— Clause 1. The House of Kepresentatives 
shall be composed of members chosen every second year by 
the people of the several States, and the electors in each 
State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

Clause 2. No person shall be a representative who shall 
not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been 
seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which 
he shall be chosen. 

Clause 3. Eepresentatives and direct taxes shall be ap- 
portioned among the several States which may be included 
within this Union, according to their respective numbers,^ 
which shall be determined by adding to the whole number 
of free persons, including those bound to service for a term 
of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all 
other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of 
the United States, and within every subsequent term of 
ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. 
The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every 

1 Under the census of 1890 one representative is apportioned to 
every 173,901 people. 



344 APPENDIX B. 

thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one 
representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, 
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 
three; Massachusetts, eight; Ehode Island and Providence 
Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six; New 
Jersey, four; Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Mary- 
land, six; Virginia, ten; North Carolina, five; South Caro- 
lina, five ; and Georgia, three. 

Clause 4. When vacancies happen in the representation 
from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

Clause 5. The House of Kepresentatives shall choose 
their Speaker and other officers ; and shall have the sole 
power of impeachment. 

SECTION III.— Clause 1. The Senate of the United 
States shall be composed of two senators from each State, 
chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years; and each 
senator shall have one vote. 

Clause 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in 
consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as 
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the 
senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration 
of the second year ; of the second class, at the expiration of 
the fourth year; and of the third class, at the expiration of 
the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second 
3^ear; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, 
during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the execu- 
tive thereof may make temporary appointments until the 
next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such 
vacancies. 

Clause 3. No person shall be a senator who shall not 
have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years 
a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall 
be chosen. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 345 

Clause 4. The Vice-President of the United States shall 
be president of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless 
they be equally divided. 

Clause 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, 
and also a president pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice- 
President, or when he shall exercise the office of President 
of the United States. 

Clause 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try 
all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they 
shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the 
United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside ; and 
no person shall be convicted without the concurrence ol 
two-thirds of the members present. 

Clause 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not 
extend further than to removal from office, and disqualifica- 
tion to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit 
under the United States; but the party convicted shall 
nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judg- 
ment, and punishment, according to law. 

SECTION IV. — Clause 1. The times, places, and manner 
of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be 
prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof ; but the 
Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter such 
regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 

Clause 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in 
every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday 
in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different 
day. 

SECTION v.— Clause 1. Each House shall be the judge 
of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own mem- 
bers, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do 
business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorised to compel the attendance of 
absent members, in such manner, and under such penal- 
ties, as each house may provide. 



346 APPENDIX B. 

Clause 2. Each House may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, 
and with the concurrence of two- thirds, expel a member. 

Clause 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its pro- 
ceedings, and from time to time publish the same, except- 
ing such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy, 
and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on 
any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those pre- 
sent, be entered on the journal. 

Clause 4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, 
shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place than that in which 
the two Houses shall be sitting. 

SECTION VI. — Clause 1. The senators and representa- 
tives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be 
ascertained by law and paid out of the treasury of the United 
States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony, 
and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, 
and in going to and returning from the same; and for any 
speech or debate in either House, they shall not be ques- 
tioned in any other place. 

Clause 2. No senator or representative shall, during the 
time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil 
office under the authority of the United States, which shall 
have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have 
been increased, during such time; and no person holding 
any office under the United States shall be a member of 
either House during his continuance in office. 

SECTION VII.— Clause 1. All bills for raising revenue 
shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the 
Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on 
other bills. 

Clause 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House 
of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become 



I 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 347 

a law, be presented to the President of the United States; 
if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, 
with his objections, to that house in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their 
journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such recon- 
sideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the 
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and 
if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a 
law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall 
be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the per- 
sons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the 
journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not 
be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays ex- 
cepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in 
which case it shall not be a law. 

Clause 3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the 
concurrence of the Senate and House of Eepresentatives 
may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) 
shall be presented to the President of the United States ; and 
before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, 
or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds 
of the Senate and House of Eepresentatives, according to 
the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

SECTION VIII.— Clause 1. The Congress shall have 
power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, 
to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and 
general welfare of the United States; but all duties, im- 
posts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United 
States ; 

Clause 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United 
States ; 

Clause 8. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, 
and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes ; 



348 APPENDIX B, 

Clause 4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, 
and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout 
the United States; 

Clause 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and 
of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and 
measures ; 

Clause 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeit- 
ing the securities and current coin of the United States ; 
Clause 7. To establish post-offices and post-roads; 
Clause 8. To promote the progress of science and useful 
arts, by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors 
the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
coveries ; 

Clause 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court ; 

Clause 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies com- 
mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of 
nations ; 

Clause 11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and 
water ; 

Clause 12. To raise and support armies, but no appro- 
priation of money to that use shall be for a longer term 
than two years ; 

Clause 13. To provide and maintain a navy; 
Clause 14. To make rules for the government and regula- 
tion of the land and naval forces ; 

Clause 15. To provide for calling forth the militia to 
execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and 
repel invasions ; ; 

Clause 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and dis- 
ciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as 
may be employed in the service of the United States, re- 
serving to the States respectively the appointment of the 
officers, and the authority of training the militia according 
to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; 



THE DECLARATION Of' IKDEPENDENCE. MO 

Clause 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases 
whatsoever over such district (not exceeding ten miles 
square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the 
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government 
of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all 
places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the 
State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful build- 
ings ; — x\nd 

Clause 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and 
all other powers vested by this Constitution in the govern- 
ment of the United States, or in any department or officer 
thereof. 

SECTION IX. — Clause 1. The migration or importation 
of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think 
proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress 
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but 
a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not ex- 
ceeding ten dollars for each person. 

Clause 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall 
not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or in- 
vasion the public safety may require it. 

Clause 3. No bill of attainder or ex yost facto law shall 
be passed. 

Clause 4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, 
unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein- 
before directed to be taken. 

Clause 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles ex- 
ported from any State. 

Clause 6. No preference shall be given by any regulation 
of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those 
of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from, one State, 
be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

Clause 7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but 
in consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular 



350 



APPENDIX B. 



statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of 
all public money shall be published from time to time. 

Clause 8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the 
United States : And no person holding any office of profit 
or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Con- 
gress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of 
any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State. 
SECTION X. — Clause 1. No State shall enter into any 
treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque 
and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any 
thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; 
pass any bill of attainder, ex jjost facto law, or law impair- 
ing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 
Clause 2. No State shall, without the consent of the Con- 
gress, lay any impost or duties on imports or exports, ex- 
cept what may be absolutely necessary for executing its 
inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and 
impost, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be 
for the use of the treasury of the United States ; and all 
such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of 
the Congress. 

Clause 3. No State shall, without the consent of Con- 
gress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war, 
in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact 
with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in 
war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger 
as will not admit of delay. 

APiTICLE II. — Executive Department. 

SECTION I.— Clause 1. The executive power shall be 
vested in a President of the United States of America. He 
shall hold his office during a term of four years, and, to- 
gether with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, 
be elected as follows : 

Clause 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as 
the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 351 

equal to the whole number of senators and representatives 
to which the State may be entitled in the Congress ; but 
no senator or representative, or person holding an office of 
trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an elector. 
Clause 3.^ 

Clause 4. The Congress may determine the time of choos- 
ing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their 
votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United 
States. 

Clause 5. No person except a natural-born citizen, or 
a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption 
of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of Pre- 
sident; neither shall any person be eligible to that office 
who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, 
and been fourteen years resident within the United States. 

Clause 6. In case of the removal of the President from 
office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge 
the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall 
devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by 
law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or 
inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declar- 
ing what officer shall then act as President ; and such officer 
shall act accordingly until the disability be removed, or a 
President shall be elected. 

Clause 7. The President shall, at stated times, receive 
for his services a compensation which shall neither be in- 
creased nor diminished during the period for which he shall 
have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period 
any other emolument from the United States, or any of 
them. 

Clause 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, 
he shall take the following oath or affirmation: — "I do 
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute. 

"^ Tills clause is no longer in force. Amendment XII. has 
superseded it 



352 APPENDIX B. 

the office of President of the United States, and will, to the 
best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Con- 
stitution of the United States." 

SECTION II. — Clause 1. The President shall be comman- 
der-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and 
of the militia of the several States, when called into the 
actual service of the United States ; he may require the 
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the 
executive departments, upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power 
to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

Clause 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two- 
thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, 
and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate shall 
appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the 
United States, whose appointments are not herein other- 
wise provided for, and which shall be established by law; 
but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such 
inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, 
in the courts of law, or in the heads of department. 

Clause 3. The President shall have power to fill up all 
vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, 
by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of 
their next session. 

SECTION III.— He shall from time to time give to the 
Congress information of the state of the Union, and recom- 
mend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge 
necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occa- 
sions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case 
of disagreement between them with respect to the time of 
adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he 
shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 353 

public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faith- 
fully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the 
United States. 

SECTION IV.— The President, Vice-President, and all 
civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from 
office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours. 

ARTICLE III. — Judicial Department. 

SECTION I.— The judicial power of the United States 
shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior 
courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and 
establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior 
courts., shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and 
shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensa- 
tion which shall not be diminished during their continuance 
in office. 

SECTION II.— Clause l.^ The judicial power shall ex- 
tend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this 
Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under their authority; — to 
all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls; — to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- 
tion; — to controversies to which the United States shall be 
a party ; — to controversies between two or more States ; — 
between a State and citizens of another State; — between 
citizens of different States; — between citizens of the same 
State claiming lands under grants of different States, and 
between a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, 
citizens, or subjects. 

Clause 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be 
party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. 

1 This clause has been modified by Amendment XI. 
X 



354 APPENDIX B. 

In all the other cases before-mentioned, the Supreme 
Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law 
and ;fact, with such exceptions and under such regula- 
tions as the Congress shall make. 

Clause 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of im- 
peachment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in 
the State wliere the said crimes shall have been committed ; 
but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be 
at such place or places as the Congress may by law have 
directed. 

SECTION III.— Clause 1. Treason against the United 
States shall consist only in levying war against them, or 
in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on 
confession in open court. 

Clause 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the 
punishment of treason; but no attainder of treason shall work 
corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of 
the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV.— General Provision. 

SECTION I.— Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings 
of every other State; and the Congress may by general 
laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and 
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

SECTION II.— Clause 1. The citizens of each State shall 
be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in 
the several States. 

Clause 2. A person charged in any State with treason, 
felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be 
found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive 
authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, 
to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 355 

Clause 3. No person held to service or labour in one State, 
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in con- 
sequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on 
claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be 
due. 

SECTION III.— Clause 1. New States may be admitted 
by the Congress into this Union ; but no new State shall be 
formed or erected w^ithin the jurisdiction of any other State ; 
nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more 
States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legis- 
latures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

Clause 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of 
and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the 
territory or other property belonging to the United States ; 
and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as 
to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any 
particular State. 

SECTION IV.— The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a republican form of Government, and 
shall protect each of them against invasion, and on applica- 
tion of the Legislature, or of the executive (when the Legis- 
lature cannot be convened), against domestic violence, 

AETICLE V. — Power of Amendment. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Con- 
stitution, or, on the application of the Legislatures of two- 
thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for 
proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitu- 
tion, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of 
the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof , 
as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed 
by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may 
be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 



356 APPENDIX B. 

clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no 
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal 
suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. — Miscellaneous Provisions. 

Clause 1. All debts contracted, and engagements entered 
into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as 
valid against the United States under this Constitution, as 
under the Confederation. 

Clause 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United 
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority 
of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; 
and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any- 
thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

Clause 3. The senators and representatives before-men- 
tioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures and 
all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States 
and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirma- 
tion to support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall 
ever be required as a qualification to any office or public 
trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. — Ratification of the Constitution. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be 
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between 
the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the 
States present, the seventeenth day of September, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the 
United States of America the twelfth. 
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our 
names. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
President^ and Deputy from Virginia. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



357 



CONSENT OF THE STATES PRESENT. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
John Langdon, 
Nicholas Oilman. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 
Nathaniel Gorham, 
RuFus King. 

CONNECTICUT. 

William Samuel Johnson, 
Roger Sherman. 

NEW YORK. 
Alexander Hamilton. 

NEW JERSEY. 

William Livingston, 
David Brearley, 
William Paterson, 
Jonathan Dayton. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, 
Thomas Fitzsimons, 
Jared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, 
gouverneur morris. 



DELAWARE. 
George Read, 
Gunning Bedford, Jr., 
John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, 
Jacob Broom. 

MARYLAND. 
James McHenry, 
Daniel of St. Thomas 

Jenifer, 
Daniel Carroll. 

VIRGINIA. 
John Blair, 
James Madison, Jr. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 
William Blount, 
Richard Dobbs Spaight, 
Hugh Williamson. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 
John Rutledge, 
Charles C. Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. 

GEORGIA. 
William Few, 
Abraham Baldwin. 



Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 



Rhode Island was not represented in the Federal Convention. 



358 APPENDIX B. 

AMENDMENTS. 1 

To the Constitution of the United States, Ratified according 
to the Provisions of the Fifth Article of the Foregoing 
Constitution. 

AETICLE I. — Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; 
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to 
petition the government for redress and grievances. 

ARTICLE II. — A well-regulated militia being necessary 
to the security of a free State, the right of the people to 
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. — No soldier shall, in time of peace, be 
quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, 
nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by 
law. 

ARTICLE IV.— The right of the people to be secure in 
their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreason- 
able searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no 
warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place 
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. — No person shall be held to answer for a 
capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present- 
ment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising 
in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual 
service in time of war and public danger; nor shall any 
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in 
jeopardy of life or limb ; nor .shall be compelled in any 
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor to be 
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use with- 
out just compensation. 

1 Amendments I. to X. were declared in force Decem1)er 15, 1791. 



1 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 359 

ARTICLE VI. — In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an 
impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime 
shall have been committed, which district shall have been 
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with 
the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the assist- 
ance of counsel for his defence. 

ARTICLE YII. — In suits at common law, where the value 
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial 
by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall 
be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, 
than according to the rules of common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. — Excessive bail shall not be required, 
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- 
ments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. — The enumeration in the Constitution of 
certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage 
others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X.— The powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
people. 

ARTICLE XL 1— The judicial power of the United 
States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law 
or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or 
subjects of any foreign state. 

ARTICLE XIL2— The electors shall meet in their respec- 
tive States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice- 
President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant 

^ Declared in force January 8, 1798. 
2 Declared iu force September, 25, 1804, 



360 APPENDIX a. 

of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct 
ballots the person voted for as Vice-President; and they 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, 
and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the 
number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and 
certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government 
of the United States, directed to the president of the Senate ; 
— the president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Eepresentatives, open all the certifi- 
cates, and the votes shall then be counted; — the person 
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be 
the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed; and if no person have such 
majority, then from the persons having the highest num- 
bers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as 
President, the House of Representatives shall choose im- 
mediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the 
President, the votes shall be taken by States, the represen- 
tation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two- 
thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall 
be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Eepresenta- 
tives shall not choose a President whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of 
March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as 
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional 
disability of the President. The person having the greatest 
number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-Presi- 
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number 
of electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall 
choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall 
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and 
a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a 
choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 36l 

office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President 
of the United States. 

AETICLE XIII. ^—Section 1. Neither slavery nor in- 
voluntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, 
whereof the person shall have been duly convicted, shall 
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their 
jurisdiction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

AETICLE XIV. 2 — Section 1. All persons bom or natural- 
ised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State 
v/herein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any 
law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of 
citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive 
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the 
several States according to their respective numbers, count- 
ing the whole number of persons in each State excluding 
Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any elec- 
tion for the choice of electors for President and Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States, representatives in Congress, the 
executive or judicial officers of a State, or the members of 
the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabi- 
tants of such State, being twenty-one years of age and 
citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged except 
for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of 
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion 
which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the 
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in 
such State. 



^ Declared in force December 18, 1865. 
^ Declared in force July 28, 1868. 



362 APPENDIX B. 

Section 3. No person shall be a senator or representative 
in Congress, or elector of President or Vice-President, or 
hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, 
or under any State, who having previously taken an oath 
as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United 
States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an 
executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the 
Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or 
comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a 
vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United 
States, authorised by law, including debts incurred for pay- 
ment of pension and bounties for services in suppressing in- 
surrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither 
the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any 
debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
against the United States, or any claim for the loss or 
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, 
and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by 
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV.i— Section 1. The rights of citizens of the 
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by 
the United States, or by any State, on account of race, 
colour, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 



1 Declared in force March 30, 1870. 






-\ — I — rr imniiTTi 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 

Washington to Roosevelt.— Studies in American History and 
Personal Impressions of the United States. 8vo. 286 pp. 



EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS. 

" This very remarkable book will be welcomed by Irishmen 
of every creed and class, not only in the Great Republic of the 
West, but in these countries as well. It is the history of a great 
crisis, out of which has arisen the greatest nation of modern 
times. Father A. Boyle has shown the principles which guided 
the leaders of this struggle for independence, and how true 
Democracy and proper application of these principles has made 
America unrivalled in power and prosperity." — {Freeman'' s 
Journal.) 

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succeeded in compiling a volume which, in our opinion, merits 
front place in historico-political American literature." — [Dublin 
Independent.) 

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it abounds in interest and instructiveness, in vivid picturing, 
and in wholesome commentary. We cannot recommend it 
too highly." — [Derry Journal.) 

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America, that will appeal to every reader, a history interesting 
in every page. We were especially struck with the chapter 
dealing with the Red Indians." — {Derry People.) 

" We have scarcely met a more succint and more readable 
account of the American War for Independence. As a popular 
account of the great contest, we doubt if there is a better to be 
had." — {Irish Ecclesiastical Record.) 

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alike can admire, and what the author does is to recall in a fine 
literary style memories and incidents that must fire the blood 
of lovers of free institutions." — {The Witness.) 

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historical and social sides, and shows that the old Democratic 
ideals of the Republic are still, in the main, the predominant 
influence of the national life, and that America is yet the guiding 
star of democracy." — {The Cork Examiner.) 



Cardinal Logue writes : — " It is a book which is sure to hold 
the attention of the reader. It is interesting and instructive, 
both by reason of the subjects treated, and from the kicid and 
graphic style in which it is written. The author in his sketches 
of American life shows us that he has been a very close observer, 
and possesses the skill to turn his observations to the best 
account." 

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present them in an attractive form, combined with impartialitj'^ 
of spirit, are essential in the historian of to-day, and Father 
A. Boyle possesses in a large measure these qualifications. The 
author of this thoughtful book has brought a remarkable 
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events that have gone to form the American Republic of to-day." 
— {The Belfast Evening Telegraph.) 

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into many tomes and chronicles, and given us a volume which 
well repays careful reading." — {T. P.^s Weekly.) 

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pressing a wealth of facts into a small place without sacrificing 
any of the lively qualities of narrative which are essential to 
captivate the popular reader. His judgment of the personages 
who figured in the War is sound and dispassionate, while his 
survey of the whole struggle, the causes which led to it, and the 
tenacity with which it was waged, is clear, accurate and stirring," 
— {The Ulster Oimrdian.) 



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